Department of Health and Social Care

Cannabis: Prescriptions

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions for cannabis-based medicines have been (a) issued and (b) fulfilled since January 2018.

Seema Kennedy: NHS England and NHS Improvement are using extant systems to monitor use of the newly rescheduled unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use in England. In England, these systems monitor the number of items dispensed and associated costs in primary care and the volume of products used and associated cost in secondary care. NHS England and NHS Improvement Controlled Drug Accountable Officers are also collecting local intelligence in both the National Health Service and independent sector.The NHS Business Services Authority is only able to provide information on prescriptions for cannabis-based medicines that have been prescribed and submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority. The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold information on prescriptions for cannabis-based medicines which have been issued but not fulfilled.The following table shows the number of items for Nabilone and Sativex (licensed cannabis-based medicines) and unlicensed cannabis-based medicines that were prescribed on an NHS prescription, dispensed in the community and submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority for reimbursement between January 2018 and April 2019.NHS prescription items dispensedJanuary 2018 – April 2019Nabilone752Sativex2,672Unlicensed cannabis-based medicines8 (data currently only available for November 2018 – March 2019). Data not yet available for April 2019. The following table shows the same products listed above covering the same time period but this data relates to private prescribing on an FP10PCD where the forms have been submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority for reporting and monitoring purposes only.Private prescription items dispensedJanuary 2018 – December 2018January 2019 – April 2019Nabilone01Sativex2413Epidiolex01Unlicensed cannabis-based medicines09 (data currently only available for January 2019 to March 2019). Data not yet available for April 2019. Unlike NHS primary care where all dispensed prescriptions are processed centrally, this is not the case for secondary care. This information is collected by a third party and not routinely published.Intelligence from NHS England and NHS Improvement Controlled Drugs Accountable Officers is that, up until the end of March 2019, five patients have had private prescriptions issued for a cannabis-based product for medicinal use in independent secondary/tertiary care in England.145 patients have accessed Epidiolex though GW Pharma’s early access programmes ahead of a licensing decision by the European Medicines Agency.

Abortion: North West

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many abortions were carried out at (a) NHS hospitals and (b) registered clinics in (i) Lancashire, (ii) Cumbria, (iii) Greater Manchester and (iv) Merseyside in 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The following table shows the number of abortions performed in Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Merseyside in 2018 in independent sector clinics approved by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and National Health Service hospitals, residents and non-residents.-Independent sector clinicsNHS hospitalTotalGreater Manchester16,0811,62117,702Merseyside4,6804,1088,788Cumbria0901901Lancashire6362,0942,730Total21,3978,72430,121

Cataracts: Surgery

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the NHS is of carrying out a cataract operation.

Stephen Hammond: Latest published data – for 2017-18 – shows that the average unit cost to the National Health Service of carrying out a cataract operation is £803.

Drugs: Misuse

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment of the potential effect of the planned cessation of ring-fencing of the Public Health Grant in 2020 on the (a) quality of drug treatment and (b) rate of drug-related deaths.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the Public Health Grant in (a) the current Spending Review Period and (b) the next Spending Review on the (i) level of quality of drug treatment services and (ii) number of drug-related deaths.

Seema Kennedy: The Government is concerned by the number of drug-related deaths, which is largely caused by an ageing cohort of heroin users. We are supporting local areas to develop a more joined up approach to commissioning and delivering the range of services that are essential to supporting recovery and preventing drug-related deaths. In October, the Home Office announced that there would be a major independent review of drug misuse. This will look at a wide range of issues, including the system of support and enforcement around drug abuse, to better inform our thinking about what more can be done to tackle drug harms including deaths. The review will inform our thinking about what more can be done to mitigate the harm caused through drug use. Local authorities will receive £3.1 billion in 2019/20, ring-fenced exclusively for use on public health, including drug addiction. We are investing over £16 billion in local authority public health services over the five years of the 2015 Spending Review until 2020/21. Public health funding for 2020 onwards, including for addiction services, will be considered carefully in the next Spending Review, in the light of the available evidence.

Abortion

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Court of Appeal hearing on 24 June 2019, how many women have been forced to have an abortion, as decided in their best interests, by NHS trusts in each of the last ten years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not collected centrally.

Abortion: Trials

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS trust was involved in the case on forced abortion heard at the Court of Appeal on 24 June 2019.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the case heard at the Court of Protection on 21 June 2019 and Court of Appeal on 24 June 2019 on forced abortion, what the total cost of that case was to the NHS trust.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold this information. An order was made by the Court of Protection and upheld by the Court of Appeal which prevents the naming of the National Health Service trust involved in this case.

NHS Trusts: Legal Opinion

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the case heard at the Court of Protection on 21 June 2019 and Court of Appeal on 24 June 2019 on forced abortion, what guidance is provided to NHS trusts on deciding whether to take legal action in the best interests of patients.

Jackie Doyle-Price: National Health Service guidance on the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which is designed to protect and empower people who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment, is available on the NHS website at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/making-decisions-for-someone-else/mental-capacity-act/The Mental Capacity Act is supported by an accompanying statutory Code of Practice, to which people making decisions under the Act must have regard. The Code provides guidance to anyone working with and or caring for adults who may lack capacity to make particular decisions. The Code of Practice is available on the GOV.UK website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice

Breast Cancer: Screening

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to encourage women to attend mammography screening.

Seema Kennedy: Prevention is key in the fight against breast cancer and increasing the proportion of women that accept their invitation and attend their breast screening appointments saves lives. NHS England is continuing to invest in initiatives to help ensure equality of access to screening, including through locally targeted interventions to understand and address a range of issues.In supporting NHS England, Public Health England (PHE) has undertaken a review of effective interventions to encourage uptake and included those in the Breast Screening Service Specifications. These specifications set out the service and quality indicators and expectations to ensure that a high standard of service is provided. Examples include ensuring breast screening services offer second timed appointments; and the importance of commissioners and providers working with local authority colleagues to understand local cultural/ethnic and travelling issues.PHE has worked on the information provided to women when breast screening is offered. The new ‘Breast Screening: Easy Guide’, along with local initiatives such as text and general practitioner reminders, are some of the ways the programme is getting the information to women so they can decide whether screening is right for them.

Abortion: Health Education

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 252573, whether that his Department has taken steps to check the scientific veracity of the new Abortion and Abortion Care Factsheet for schools.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Abortion and Abortion Care Fact Sheet for schools was produced and published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. The contents of the factsheet were developed by the RCOG in line with the latest evidence on abortion care. The College is best placed to determine the scientific veracity of the information it contains.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266839 on Prescriptions: Fees and Charges, how his Department monitors the National Health Service Business Services Authority in relation to appeals against wrongly issued prescription penalty charge notices.

Seema Kennedy: The NHS Business Services Authority the body responsible for issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), does not operate an appeals process against wrongly issued PCNs. However, we are informed that the NHS Business Services Authority has reduced the number of wrongly issued PCNs from an average of 30% across several years to 25% in 2018/19.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement, Government review confirms local authorities will continue to commission public health services, published by his Department on 7 June 2019, when he plans to publish the proposals in relation to the review of the commissioning arrangements for sexual and reproductive health set out in paragraph 2.4 of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement, Government review confirms local authorities will continue to commission public health services, published by his Department on 7 June 2019 and paragraph 2.4 of the NHS Long Term Plan, in what form will the consultation into the proposals to improve co-commissioning developed in relation to the commissioning arrangements for sexual and reproductive health be conducted.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 2.4 of the NHS Long Term Plan, what public consultation his Department undertook with the sexual and reproductive health sector on the review of the commissioning arrangements for sexual and reproductive health.

Seema Kennedy: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced the outcome of the review, confirming that local authorities will continue to take the lead in commissioning sexual and reproductive health, school nursing and health visiting services, at his Royal Society of Medicine lecture on 6 June.The review consulted a range of stake-holders. Stakeholder forums were organised by the National Aids Trust and the Public Health Systems Group, to which many organisations were invited to express their views. Officials from the Department also met with a number of organisations, and the review received a number of written submissions.The forthcoming Prevention Green Paper will provide an opportunity for people to give us their views on more we can do to encourage local authorities and National Health Service bodies to work well together in commissioning health services.

Social Services: Older People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what percentage of people aged over 65 receive some form of social care.

Caroline Dinenage: For local authority funded care, the number of over 65s in long term care at the end of March 2018 was 387,980.There are also a number of people who receive short term care throughout the year. However, the data we have relates to the total instances of support being given rather than the number of individuals, reflecting that some people will receive multiple packages of care. Counting the number of people would thus misrepresent the volume of service delivered. As such we are not in a position to provide this as a percentage of the population.

Antidepressants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266845, on antidepressants what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing a policy to monitor the proportion of patients prescribed antidepressants who do not take that medication for the prescribed length of time.

Seema Kennedy: The Department has made no such assessment. The Government expects clinicians to prescribe anti-depressants responsibly and to follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on shared decision-making when discussing care and treatment options with their patients. This includes agreeing any treatment monitoring arrangements.

Health: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences in each National Statistics Socio-economic classification.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No such estimate has been made. The Department is aware of published research that indicates children growing up in lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to be exposed to adverse childhood experiences compared to more advantaged peers.

Dementia

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the diagnosis rates of dementia in each local authority area.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Challenge on Dementia 2020 sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. This has been achieved nationally.NHS Digital collects data on the number of patients with a recorded dementia diagnosis in their clinical record and report the estimated dementia diagnosis rate by local authority area on a monthly basis. The data is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/recorded-dementia-diagnoses

Health Services: Undocumented Migrants

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of undocumented immigrants who have died after they were denied care because they were unable to pay the costs upfront.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold this information.National guidance is clear that immediately necessary or urgent care should never be withheld or delayed for reasons to do with eligibility or payment. Whether care is urgent is a decision only a clinician can make and on a case-by-case basis, informed by national guidance.

NHS England: Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England Private Board meeting papers, whether it remains NHS England’s policy to publish the agenda and papers from NHS England Private Board meetings one year after the meeting; and for what reasons NHS England have not published any Private Board papers since March 2015.

Stephen Hammond: The board of NHS England conducts as much of its business as possible in a session that members of the public are welcome to attend and observe. It remains NHS England’s policy to publish private board meeting papers and papers up until May 2018 are now available on the NHS England website at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/board/meetings/previous/private-papers/

Autism and Learning Disability: Newcastle-under-Lyme

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that constituents with learning disabilities or autism, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, are able to access inpatient facilities close to home.

Stephen Hammond: Adult non-secure inpatient services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism in Newcastle-Under-Lyme are commissioned by the Newcastle-Under-Lyme Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Local CCGs should ensure that patients with a learning disability and/or autism have access to an inpatient bed when they need it.Adult secure inpatient services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Tier 4 inpatient beds for children and young people with learning disabilities and/or autism in Newcastle-Under-Lyme are commissioned by the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Team in the West Midlands, which will always look at prioritising meeting clinical needs as locally as possible.

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254153 on prescriptions: universal credit, when the new NHS prescription form will be introduced; and whether the new form will be used throughout the UK.

Seema Kennedy: A revised version of the FP10 prescription form, featuring a dedicated tick-box for use by Universal Credit (UC) claimants who meet the criteria for free National Health Service prescriptions, has been approved by Ministers. Any change involves major system and software updates across the NHS to allow the re-designed form to be used and processed. The revised paper form is currently being prepared for testing, to ensure it is compatible with the scanners used by the NHS Business Services Authority. The revised form will be introduced at the earliest opportunity. The new form is for use in England only.

Healthy Start Scheme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to allow a wider range of support workers to distribute and sign parents' application forms to increase the take-up of healthy start vouchers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are developing a digital approach to Healthy Start, which should make it easier for families to apply for, receive and use Healthy Start benefits. As part of the digitisation process, we are developing and testing an online application form to replace the current paper form.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for treatment for transgender people (a) under 18 years old and (b) over 18 years to transition in each of the last 12 months for which information is available.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to treatment for people that reach the age of 18 while on the waiting list to transition gender.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The average waiting time for transgender people aged under 18 years old and over 18 years in each of the last 12 months is not centrally available.NHS England currently has contracts in place with seven National Health Service trusts for the delivery of gender dysphoria services for individuals from 17 years of age (Newcastle; Leeds; Sheffield; Nottingham; Northampton; London; Exeter) and with two NHS trusts for the delivery of services for children and adolescents up to 18 years of age (Leeds; London). The young person’s service would not usually accept a referral for someone who is shortly due to turn 18 years. If this is the case, the service would generally recommend referring to an adult service instead. For young people on a waiting list for the young person’s service, arrangements can be made for a referral to an adult service from 17 years of age.

Suicide: Males

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of adult male suicides.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to reducing suicides across society and we published the first cross-Government suicide prevention workplan in January 2019, which sets out an ambitious programme for suicide prevention across national and local government.The National Suicide Prevention Strategy highlights men, and especially middle-aged and young men, as a hard-to-reach, high-risk group and that is why the Government is investing £25 million to support local suicide prevention plans and is testing a range of approaches to reaching men in local communities.We also recently announced up to £600,000 to support local authorities to further improve their plans, including sharing best practice in targeting high risk groups such as men.

Suicide: Ethnic Groups and Immigrants

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the suicide risk among (a) immigrants and (b) each ethnic minority group.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Ethnicity and immigration status is not recorded at the time of death registration so this information is not available.

Nurses: Vacancies

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the vacancy rate is for nurses in (a) the NHS and (b) social care.

Stephen Hammond: Since April 2017, NHS Improvement collects vacancy rates of medical staff from individual National Health Service providers and publish them as part of its ‘Quarterly performance of the NHS provider sector’ report. The vacancy data is published for three staff groups; doctors, nurses and ‘other staff’. The report can be found in the following link:https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/5404/Performance_of_the_NHS_provider_sector_for_the_quarter_4_1819.pdfThe latest available data as at March 2019, shows there are over 39,500 nursing and midwifery vacancies across the NHS. This is a vacancy rate of 11.1%. There are 40,300 nursing and midwifery temporary staff (bank and agency) who are used to fill in these vacancies as well as short and long-term sickness absence and maternity leave.Skills for Care estimates that in 2017/18, there are over 4,400 vacant registered nursing jobs in social care. This is a vacancy rate of 12.3%.The interim people Plan, which was published on 3 June 2019, sets out a shared vision and plan of action to put NHS people at the heart of NHS policy and delivery and ensure the NHS has the staff it needs.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of alcohol-related mortality rates in each National Statistics Socio economic classification in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Seema Kennedy: Public Health England’s evidence review ‘The Public Health Burden of Alcohol and the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Alcohol Control Policies’ highlighted that in the English population, rates of alcohol-specific and related mortality increase as levels of deprivation increase and alcohol-related liver disease is strongly related to the socioeconomic gradient. The NHS Long Term Plan signalled our support for improving treatment for patients in deprived areas with expert Alcohol Care Teams working in the 25% worst affected parts of the country supporting patients and their families who have issues with alcohol misuse. It is estimated that these new measures could prevent 50,000 admissions and almost 250,000 bed days over the next five years. The Government will continue to be mindful of social inequalities whilst developing policies to tackle alcohol harms.

Streptococcus: Health Education

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government will recognise July as International Group B Strep Awareness Month; and what progress has been made on improving (a) prevention and (b) awareness of group B streptococcus .

Seema Kennedy: The Department continues to support awareness of Group B streptococcus, alongside the wider international community.Group B streptococcus is the leading cause of bacterial infection in newborn babies. The Government has recognised there are gaps in the evidence relating to this issue and the National Institute for Health Research has commissioned a trial to compare the clinical and cost effectiveness of universal screening compared with usual risk-based care, which will help to understand more about the potential benefits and harms of this approach.This is a large-scale and ambitious trial, the results of which will be of interest to the United Kingdom National Screening Committee and will form one piece of the developing evidence picture to inform its future recommendations for screening for Group B streptococcus.

Cataracts: Surgery

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the Department holds on the number of NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups that follow the NICE 2017 guideline, NG77, on cataract surgery.

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote best practice across Clinical Commissioning Groups on the NICE 2017 guideline, NG77, on cataract surgery.

Seema Kennedy: The Department holds no information on the number of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2017 guideline, NG77. NICE clinical guidelines are based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and are developed through engagement with stakeholders. They represent best practice and CCGs are expected to take them fully into account when planning and commissioning high-quality services healthcare services that meet the needs of their local population, including cataract surgery.NHS England is responsible for holding CCGs to account to ensure they are commissioning services that meet the needs of their local populations.

Hospitals: Essex

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the pay band is of the joint chief executive of the mid-Essex Broomfield, Basildon and Southend hospitals.

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the pay is of the managing directors of (a) mid-Essex Broomfield hospital, (b) Basildon hospital and (c) Southend hospital.

Stephen Hammond: Information on remuneration packages for National Health Service provider directors are reported in their annual accounts.The total salary of the joint Chief Executive of Mid-Essex Hospital Services Trust, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation Trust and Southend University Hospital Foundation Trust as reported in their 2018/19 annual accounts was £230,000 – 235,000.The total salary as reported in their 2018/19 annual accounts for the Managing Directors of Mid-Essex Hospital Services Trust and Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation Trust is set out in the following table:Mid-EssexManaging Director 1 April 2018 – 1 July 2018£40,000 – 45,000Managing Director 16 July 2018 – 31 March 2019£120,000 – 125,000Basildon and ThurrockManaging Director 1 April 2018 – 22 June 2018£35,000 – 40,000Managing Director 9 July 2018 – 31 March 2019£120,000 – 125,000 Salary information for the Managing Director of Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is not available as the annual report and accounts for this provider has not yet been laid before Parliament.

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 30 January 2019 to Question 214478 and of 26 February to Question 223137, if he will (a) discuss that difference in clinical practice with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and (b) ask that college to review its clinical guidelines.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has brought this issue to the attention of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). It is for the RCOG to consider whether to revise its guidelines having considered the available evidence.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) ambulances, (b) doctors, (c) paramedics and (d) emergency medical technicians were operationally available for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust on the latest date for which figures are available.

Stephen Hammond: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.The following table shows the number of doctors, ambulance paramedics and emergency medical technicians working in East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, as at March 2019 (latest data).  Number of Staff (Full time equivalent)Doctors0Ambulance Paramedics1,314Emergency medical technicians808 The figures above show the full-time equivalent number of staff employed, not all of whom are operationally available at any point in time due to for example working on a rota based system or being absent due to sick leave or annual leave.Ambulance trusts are responsible for providing emergency access to healthcare. As such doctors are not typically part of ambulance crews which are made up of an emergency care assistant and a paramedic.The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of ambulances operationally available in East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

General Practitioners: Hullbridge

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs are operating at One Riverside Medical Centre Practice in Hullbridge, Essex; and how many patients are registered at that practice.

Seema Kennedy: The number of registered patients and general practitioners operating at Riverside Medical Centre in Hullbridge, Essex is attached.



GP/Patient Riverside Medical Centre information
(Word Document, 20.3 KB)

Ambulance Services: Essex

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to additional blue light emergency patient transfers between hospitals proposed in the mid/south Essex sustainability and transformation plan, what estimate has been made of the number of additional emergency transfers each day; in which financial year the contract for those transfers is due to be let; which element of the NHS will fund that contract; whether the contract will be let competitively; and whether the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has the capacity to service that contract.

Stephen Hammond: The Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) has set out proposals to change how they provide specialist care across the three hospitals in their STP, to improve access for their population. The proposals are currently under review by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.The proposals include the development of a ‘treat and transfer’ model which would allow a small number of patients within specified conditions to be stabilised at their local accident and emergency department and then, if appropriate, transferred using a specialist clinical transfer service to a different hospital to receive ongoing specialist treatment and care. If this model is utilised, it is anticipated that 15 additional patients each day could be transferred, increasing the total number transferred each day to 29.As the proposals are currently subject to a referral to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, the commissioning of any service will not commence prior to the resolution of that process. The Mid and South Essex STP has secured £118 million of capital investment to support these plans. A full competitive tender process will be undertaken if the proposals are pursued.Once the final service specification has been agreed and issued to the market, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and other providers will be in a position to determine their capacity to fulfil the contract, which would be assessed through any procurement process.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Drugs

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of (a) the decision by NICE in May 2019 to enable people with spinal muscular atrophy to access new drugs and (b) enabling all people with relevant conditions to access those drugs; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that the total budget impact for the National Health Service at list prices to make nusinersen available for the total population with spinal muscular atrophy has been projected to be £156 million. The actual budget impact is subject to a managed access agreement and a confidential commercial agreement between NHS England and NHS Improvement and the company.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Drugs

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people with spinal muscular atrophy will be eligible for access to NHS drugs for treatment following the 15 May 2019 announcement by NICE; what his policy is on people who have been excluded from that access; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: NHS England, NHS Improvement, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Biogen have worked together extensively to reach an arrangement that allows access to nusinersen for most people with spinal muscular atrophy types 1, 2 and 3 along with pre-symptomatic patients.NICE has advised that because of the difficulties in being confident about the clinical evidence and the cost-effectiveness of nusinersen, it was necessary to agree access criteria for a period of further data collection to try and better understand how nusinersen affects people with spinal muscular atrophy. Therefore a managed access agreement has been reached, which should not only help answer these questions but also address the financial risk and challenges for implementation in the National Health Service.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Drugs

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the announcement by NICE on 15 May 2019 that it would facilitate access by people with spinal muscular atrophy to a new drug for prescription on the NHS was followed several weeks later by an announcement that the drug would be available only to a specific group of those people; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that on 15 May 2019 it confirmed that it was able to recommend nusinersen for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. In the announcement, NICE said the treatment would be made available under the terms of the managed access agreement between NHS England and NHS Improvement and Biogen. However, the full detail of the agreement was not given in the announcement and NICE accepts this was misleading for some of the patient population. NICE provided clarification at the earliest opportunity and has apologised to individuals affected.

Prime Minister

European Parliament: Elections

Layla Moran: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she had discussions at the EU Council on 20-21 June 2019 with her EU27 counterparts on the evidence to the European Parliament's Brexit Steering Group submitted by the campaign group New Europeans in respect of the 2019 European elections; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa May: For details of discussions at the European Council, I refer the Hon Member to my Commons’ oral statement on Monday 24 June.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Savings: Older People

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to encourage people to save for their retirement.

Guy Opperman: Automatic enrolment has reversed the decline in workplace pension saving. Latest figures show that over 10 million workers have been automatically enrolled into workplace pension by more than 1.5 million employers. In 2018, eligible employees saved a total of £90.4 billion into their workplace pensions.In 2018, 87% of all eligible workers in Great Britain were members of a workplace pension scheme, this is a 32 percentage point increase compared with 2012, when automatic enrolment was introduced. The greatest increases have been among those who have historically had least access to workplace pensions, such as women, younger people and lower earners. In 2018, workplace pension participation levels increased to 85% for eligible male and female workers in the private sector; this represented a 45 percentage point increase among eligible women compared to 2012. For eligible 22-29-year-old workers in the private sector workplace pension participation increased to 84% – up from 24% in 2012. With record numbers of people saving for retirement, it’s more important than ever that people understand their pensions and prepare for financial security in later life. Government is committed to facilitating industry to make pension dashboards a reality and that is why we will compel pension schemes to make consumers data available to them via dashboards, when parliamentary time allows.

Personal Independence Payment: County Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 265489 on Personal Independence Payment, for what reason recent correspondence on casework enquiries to hon. Members states that waiting times for personal independence payments mandatory reconsiderations are 10 to 12 weeks in County Durham and table 7D, entitled MR clearance time (median calendar days), normal rules, by year of clearance, region and local authority of her Department's quarterly statistical publication, Personal Independence Payment: April 2013 to April 2019 states that such waiting times are 39 median calendar days.

Justin Tomlinson: The figures published in table 7D of the publication “Personal Independence Payment: April 2013 to April 2019” are based on median calendar days that a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) is cleared in each Financial Year. Clearance times can vary over time, and the median time is the middle value if all the times were ordered from lowest value to highest value. Table 7C of the same publication shows median clearance times by month for Great Britain as a whole, with April 2019 being the latest month official statistics have been published for. There is no legislative clearance target for a mandatory reconsideration. However, from late May 2019 claimants have been advised that, as a guide, they should hear from the Department within 10 weeks.

Children: Maintanance

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many committal orders have been issued under each category for (a) the Child Maintenance Service and (b) the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.

Will Quince: Committal orders, or sanctions as they are called in the Child Maintenance Service, are reported in our published statistics and can be on found table 11 of the tables document on the attached link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-march-2019-experimental We reported enforcement activities in our CSA statistics until September 2017 when we reduced the number of tables published because most CSA cases had been closed or had begun the Case Closure process. The last publication including the enforcement activities can be found on table 22 of the attached link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2017

Job Centres: Stanley

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints Stanley Job Centre has received in relation to disabled access throughout the building in the last five years.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued to staff at Stanley Job Centre in relation to disabled access in advance of arranging appointments with claimants.

Alok Sharma: Due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), information about complaints is only held for the last 14 months, not the last five years that has been requested. For this period we have identified one complaint that was raised about disabled access in Stanley Jobcentre. DWP is committed to meeting the needs of all disabled customers and has a legal duty to ensure all services are accessible to them. Staff at Stanley Jobcentre have access to a range of comprehensive guidance that covers the key areas of customer accessibility needs. These include customer accessibility instructions, general rules regarding access to benefits and services, customer access to Jobcentre staff lift facilities and customer access to Jobcentre staff toilet facilities.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil penalties relating to failure to undertake tasks required for universal credit compliance have been issued in each of the last 12 months.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much revenue has been received from civil penalties relating to failure to undertake tasks required for universal credit compliance in each of the last 12 months.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Debt Collection

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil penalties have been passed to debt collection agencies by her Department in each of the last 12 months.

Will Quince: The table below details the total number of Civil Penalties which have been passed to Debt Collection Agencies in each of the last 12 months*. MonthCivil PenaltiesJun-18700Jul-18900Aug-18800Sep-18600Oct-18600Nov-18800Dec-18500Jan-19900Feb-19600Mar-19600Apr-19700May-19700Grand Total8400  A £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by both Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Local Authorities where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and has not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. When recovering overpayments, DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants from any undue financial hardship. Like the Department, private collection agencies will look to establish sustainable repayment arrangements. *The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Debt Collection

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total monetary amount is of civil penalties which have been passed to debt collection agencies by her Department in each of the last 12 months.

Will Quince: The table below details the total monetary amount of Civil Penalties which have been passed to Debt Collection Agencies in each of the last 12 months.* MonthTotal Monthly AmountJun-18£32,800Jul-18£42,500Aug-18£38,500Sep-18£28,000Oct-18£26,700Nov-18£35,500Dec-18£25,200Jan-19£43,500Feb-19£26,400Mar-19£26,900Apr-19£35,400May-19£31,200Grand Total£392,600 A £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by both Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Local Authorities where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and has not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. When recovering overpayments, DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants from any undue financial hardship. Like the Department, private collection agencies will look to establish sustainable repayment arrangements. *The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

Debt Collection

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has received from debt collection agencies in respect of civil penalties in each of the last 12 months.

Will Quince: The table below details the amount recovered from Debt Collection Agencies in respect of Civil Penalties in each of the last 12 months.* MonthRecovery Value  Jun 2018£6,900  Jul 2018£5,500  Aug 2018£6,900  Sep 2018£5,200  Oct 2018£4,600  Nov 2018£6,400  Dec 2018£4,600  Jan 2019£3,000  Feb 2019£4,700  Mar 2019£5,800  Apr 2019£3,500  May 2019£3,800   A £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by both Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Local Authorities where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and has not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. When recovering overpayments, DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants from any undue financial hardship. Like the Department, private collection agencies will look to establish sustainable repayment arrangements. *The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

Universal Credit

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new universal credit claimants received an additional two weeks' housing benefit in each month since April 2018.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sums her Department expended on funding the additional two weeks' of housing benefit for new universal credit claimants in each month since April 2018.

Will Quince: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, since it was introduced in April 2018, all Housing Benefit claimants whose Housing Benefit award was ended because of a new claim to Universal Credit have been awarded the two-week Transition to Universal Credit Housing Payment.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people had their benefit payments reduced to (a) less than £6 per day, (b) less than £5 per day and (c) zero due to the imposition of sanctions by her Department in each year since 2010.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.In Universal Credit, sanctions are calculated with reference to the claimant’s standard allowance only and not any other elements such as housing or children. A sanction will reduce the Universal Credit award by no more than 100% of the standard allowance.We have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs (including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene) as a result of their sanction.

Employment: Mental Illness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the proportion of people with long-term mental ill health who are in paid employment.

Justin Tomlinson: An estimated 47% of people with a long-term mental health condition were in employment in 2018-19. Notes:Estimates are derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) for the year April 2018 to March 2019. The APS is a variant on the Labour Force Survey produced by the Office for National Statistics. Survey estimates may be subject sampling errors and reporting errors.Estimates relate to people living in the UK aged 16-64 years.Employment is defined according to National Statistics definitions, as used in the ONS’s monthly Labour Market Overview release, in line with internationally-agreed (ILO) guidelines.A long-term health condition is defined as a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more, in line with Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonised Principles. This includes those who are disabled (who report that their condition or illness reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities) and those who are not disabled.Mental health conditions are defined as any condition reported by survey respondents under the categories “depression, bad nerves or anxiety” or “mental illness, phobias, panics or other nervous disorders”. People who report a long-term health condition but do not specify the type are excluded from this analysis.

Television: Licensing

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free TV licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in the (a) Livingston constituency and (b) West Lothian local authority area in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 years and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.  Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18(a) Livingston constituency£0.82(b) West Lothian local authority area£1.39

Universal Credit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267343 on Universal Credit, if her Department will (a) investigate the practice of loansharks applying on behalf of an individual for a universal credit advance payment which is then issued as a loan to the individual and (b) review the application process for universal credit advance payments to tackle such practices.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pension Credit

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all pensioners claim all of the pension credit they are entitled to.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.Potential customers can use the Pension Credit https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkitThe toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the median advance payment awarded to people awaiting their first payment of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The median payment for new claim and benefit transfer advances was £380. Notes:The figure relates to Universal Credit full service onlyThe figure is rounded to the nearest £The median is based on those advances paid between March 18 and February 2019

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of repayment schedules for advance payments awarded to people awaiting their first universal credit claim have been timetabled to (a) one to three months, (b) four to six months, (c) seven to nine months and (d) 10-12 months by Jobcentre Plus district in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Alok Sharma: The repayment schedule for an advance payment is agreed by the claimant.The information requested is provided in the attached table which gives the proportion of repayment schedules for new claim and benefit transfer advances by Jobcentre Plus district.From October 2021 we will be increasing the recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months, further supporting those in financial need.Notes:The figures relate to Universal Credit full service onlyThe figures are rounded to the nearest %The proportions are based on those advances paid between March 18 and February 2019



Table attachment
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.55 KB)

Work Capability Assessment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) disability and (b) work capability assessments were carried out with a home visit in 2018-19 in each DWP Region.

Justin Tomlinson: Please find the information requested below. PIP and HDAS both have separate estate delivery models resulting in a significant difference in numbers of home visits. I have interpreted ‘(a) disability’ as PIP assessments. This is unpublished data derived from the DWP0400 report. The numbers are unpublished data, derived from assessment provider MI. (a) PIP data does not align to DWP regions, however, I have provided the data in the relevant Lots. Lot 1 (Scotland, north-east and north-west England), Lot 2 (Central England and Wales) and Lot 3 (South East and South West England):Personal Independence Payment completed as Home Visits Contract Lot April 18 - March 19TotalLot 1 – Scotland & the North76,890Lot 2 – Wales and The Midlands116,630Lot 3 – The South of England47,160 Lot 2 numbers are higher due to the supplier business model; Lot 1 is higher than Lot 3 due to the higher proportion of rural areas. (b) Work Capability Assessment data by DWP regions: Work Capability Assessments completed as Home Visits by DWP Region  April 18 - March 19TotalCentral2,070London & Home Counties1,460North East2,200North West1,590Scotland1,350Southern1,080Wales630Figures rounded to the nearest 10.  All Assessment Providers are required to undertake home visits where there is a clinical need to do so and assess all cases prior to routing them for assessment. In PIP, there is some contract flexibility in the delivery of home assessments over and above the clinical requirement.

Personal Independence Payment

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Written Statement of 20 December 2018, HCWS1224, what progress she has made on the introduction of light touch reviews for people with long-term health conditions who are in receipt of personal independence payment.

Justin Tomlinson: The light touch process has yet to be fully designed (the first ones will not be due until 2023 – 10 years after PIP was first introduced) but we would not expect it to involve a full assessment unless the claimant’s circumstances have significantly changed. The review is intended to maintain a minimum level of contact with claimants. We will involve our stakeholders in designing the review process so that it adds value and best meets the needs of our claimants.

Pension Credit

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes he has in place to enable relatives with lasting power of attorney registered with the Public Guardian to apply for pension credit on behalf of those for whom they are responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions has processes in place to ensure that someone with a Power of Attorney can make a claim for Pension Credit on behalf of those for whom they are responsible. The Department’s guidance on this is available online. In order to confirm that an individual has the authority to act on behalf of the claimant, we ask to see the relevant Power of Attorney document and may need to verify authenticity with the Office of the Public Guardian or Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). The original document can be taken into one of the Department’s offices or sent to the Department; a copy, authenticated by the claimant or donor, a lawyer or a stockbroker as a ‘true copy’, is equally acceptable. Subject to confirmation that an individual has the authority to act on behalf of the claimant, the simplest method of making a claim is by telephone, which removes the need for claimants and their representatives to complete lengthy application forms. However, paper forms are also available for those who prefer and can be completed with the assistance of a DWP visiting officer if required.

Home Office

Forced Marriage

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising forced marriage as a form of modern day slavery.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are living in forced marriages in the UK.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to help people trapped in forced marriages.

Victoria Atkins: The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroadThe Government has significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a new forced marriage offence, criminalised the breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victimsIn November 2018, the Home Secretary launched the Forced Marriage Awareness Campaign, which highlights that forced marriage is a crime and directs victims and concerned parties to contact the Forced Marriage Helpline for support.The joint Home Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases. Since 2012, the FMU has provided support to between approximately 1,200 and 1,400 cases per year. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people currently living in forced marriages in the UK. Further information on the FMU’s 2018 statistics can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdfWe recognise that forced marriage can constitute modern slavery, as we examined in the Home Office Typology report, but not in all cases, so we must assess each on a case by case basis. Potential victims can be deceived about the nature of their relationship with the trafficker, not understanding that they would be exploited in the marriage. The exploitation can take place through domestic servitude which occurs alongside domestic abuse and sexual exploitation.The Home Office Typology Report can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf

Domestic Abuse and Stalking

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 24 April 2019 to Question 243336 on Domestic Abuse and Stalking, how many police forces in the UK have undertaken Domestic Abuse Matters training developed by the College of Policing and SafeLives.

Victoria Atkins: To date, 15 police forces have undertaken or are in the process of undertaking Domestic Abuse Matters training, 14 in England and Wales as well as Police Scotland. HMICFRS’ latest report into domestic abuse shows that police forces continue to invest in domestic abuse training, which is well embedded and varied, with a number of police forces working with other organisations to develop or provide this training.

Stalking

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents of stalking of women in England and Wales that were initially dismissed by police in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: Being stalked can have terrifying consequences, and the Government is determined to do everything it can to protect victims and stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.The Home Office collects information on the number of offences of stalking recorded by the police in England and Wales. It is not possible to tell from data held centrally whether or not incidents were initially dismissed by police.

National Police Air Service: Humberside Police

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he plans to include officers from Humberside Police on the National Police Air Service.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of the loss of a force-specific police helicopter on the quality of air support in the Humberside area.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of fixed wing aircraft compared to helicopters in providing air support to police operations.

Mr Nick Hurd: The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a collaboration of English and Welsh Police Forces. The operational performance of the service, decisions as to how aircraft are deployed and recruitment are matters for NPAS and the Strategic Board which oversees its work, comprised of Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners.NPAS publish an annual report outlining the service’s performance and financial position. The Home Office does not collect performance information on NPAS. In an article of 18 April, on the West Yorkshire Police website, NPAS published information describing the next steps in introducing new fixed wing aircraft to operational police activity. The detail of how the police will use these new aircraft to complement their existing helicopter fleet is an operational matter for NPAS.Police officers from all English and Welsh forces were invited to apply for secondments in NPAS through a recruitment campaign run in April 2019.

Police: Finance

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the equality of availability of shared policing resources across all relevant police forces.

Mr Nick Hurd: We recognise that demand on the police is changing and becoming more complex, and have made clear that the issue of the funding formula for police grant will be looked at again in the context of the next Spending Review. It is right first to consider what the overall envelope of funding to the police should be, before determining how it should be distributed.

Police

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) neighbourhood police officers and (b) police officers in visible frontline roles there were in each police force area in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the primary function of police officers, by Police Force Area, as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins.Functions data are collected under the Police Objective Analysis (POA) framework. Officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function. The number and proportion of officers employed in frontline policing roles can be calculated according to the frontline policing model set out by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).Data on the number of full time equivalent neighbourhood police officers in each Police Force Area in England and Wales at 31 March 2018 can be found in Table_F1 of the accompanying data tables:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728153/police-workforce-tabs-jul18.odsData for previous years is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesData on the number of full time equivalent officers in frontline policing roles in each Police Force Area in England and Wales, in each of the last five years, can be found in Table_F5 of the accompanying data tables:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728153/police-workforce-tabs-jul18.odsData on the number of police officers in frontline and neighbourhood policing roles at 31 March 2019 are due to be published on 18 July 2019.

Police Stations: Merseyside

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the need for new police stations in Newton-le-Willows and St Helens; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is for democratically elected and accountable Police and Crime Commissioners, working with their Chief Constables, to determine the most effective use of resources to best meet the local needs and priorities of the communities they serve.

Immigrants: Detainees

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Government has paid in compensation and settlement to persons wrongfully held in immigration detention in each of the past five years.

Caroline Nokes: Compensation costs for wrongful detention are published and can be found via the following linksFY 2018-19 - page 105https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/807126/6.5571_HO_Annual_Report_201920_WEB.PDFFY 2017-18 – page 97https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727179/6_4360_HO_Annual_report_WEB.PDFFor FY 2016 and earlier financial periods https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-03-06/131262/

Detention Centres: Operating Costs

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the operating cost of the immigration detention estate has been in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Detention costs are published in the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts and they can be found via the following linksFY 2018-19 – page 135:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/807126/6.5571_HO_Annual_Report_201920_WEB.PDFFY 2017-18 – page 124:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727179/6_4360_HO_Annual_report_WEB.PDF FY2016/17 - page 115:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627853/ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdfFY2015/16 - page 132:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdfFY2014/15 – page 124https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441282/HO-AR15_web.pdf

Immigrants: Detainees

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Government has paid in legal costs in cases relating to wrongful immigration detention in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The information requested is not held centrally by the Home Office, and in the format requested, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Domestic Abuse: Ethnic Groups

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that BAME women receive the specialist help they need after suffering domestic abuse.

Victoria Atkins: The Government's Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published on 8 March 2016, sets out the importance of meeting the needs of LGBT and BAME victims and survivors of VAWG, who may experience additional barriers to accessing support.To ensure all victims get the right support at the right time, we set out a clear blueprint for local action though a National Statement of Expectations (NSE). The NSE sets out what local areas need to do to prevent offending and support victims and encourages organisations to work with local commissioners to disseminate the NSE and support implementation of best practice. In our VAWG Strategy Refresh, published in March 2019, we committed to conducting a review of the NSE to ensure it remains up to date, robust, and effective.We are also taking action to improve the capacity within specialist sectors, as we did by investing nearly £400,000 (£100,000 from the Home Office; nearly £300,000 from Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) to Imkaan to build capacity in the specialist BAME sector. We have provided Southall Black Sisters with £1,090,000 from the Tampon Tax Fund to provide support for women with no recourse to public funds through their ‘Recourse to Safety’ project. It will make essential support and protection available to abused women by providing safe accommodation, subsistence and help including counselling, therapy, immigration advice and community awareness-raising.We also know that BAME women are more vulnerable to culturally specific types of abuse. We have significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a forced marriage offence, criminalised breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims of forced marriage.

Asylum: Iraq

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) Tazidis and (b) Christians from Iraq that have been granted asylum in the UK since 2014.

Caroline Nokes: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 3rd June 2019: The Home Office are unable to report on how many Yazidis and Christians from Iraq were granted asylum in the UK in each year since 2014, as the basis of a person’s asylum claim is recorded on their individual Home Office file, but not in a way that can be easily aggregated.The Home Office do publish data on those who have been granted asylum in the UK in each year since 2014, broken down by country of nationality, including those from Iraq. The latest published release can be found in tab as_01 at volume 1 of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2019/list-of-tables#asylum

Criminal Proceedings: Artificial Intelligence

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales on the use of algorithms in the criminal justice system.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has regular discussions with Police and Crime Commissioners across a wide range of issues.We recognise the potential that the use of emerging technologies present in the Criminal Justice System for improving outcomes for citizens and also the importance of ensuring that these are used in a way which is compliant with appropriate legal and ethical frameworks. We welcome the work by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) to develop a code of practice for use of algorithms in predictive policing and will be working with them to develop it.

Northern Ireland Office

Magilligan Prison

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure the construction of the new Magilligan Prison in the absence of devolved Government in Northern Ireland.

John Penrose: Responsibility for prisons in Northern Ireland is primarily a devolved area. As a result of the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, the Department of Justice (DoJ) is solely responsible for the management of the prison estate.

Apprentices: Taxation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which Department is responsible for allocating funding from the apprenticeship levy in Northern Ireland in the absence of a devolved Administration.

John Penrose: The Department for the Economy has policy responsibility for apprenticeships. Northern Ireland does not receive any funding directly from the Apprenticeship Levy. Instead it receives a Barnett consequential of spend in England which is funding from the Levy.

Politics and Government: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she has taken to ensure that Northern Ireland has good governance in the absence of a devolved Administration.

Karen Bradley: Since the previous round of talks finished in 2018, this Government has focused on taking steps to ensure good governance can continue in Northern Ireland. This has included the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 that provides the Northern Ireland Civil Service the certainty and clarity they need to continue to deliver public services in the absence of Ministers. The Government remains of the view, however, that the best guarantee of good governance is the restoration of the Belfast Agreement institutions and is focused on seeking agreement between the parties as part of the current talks process.

Treasury

Share Fishermen: Taxation

Emma Hardy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the HMRC criteria for determinations to continue or discontinue the pursuit of tax debts by share fishermen are.

Jesse Norman: All taxpayers should pay what they owe in order to fund public services. Therefore HMRC will seek to pursue tax that is rightly owed wherever that is possible. There are, however, situations where it is not possible to make recoveries, for example, where the customer is unable to pay, has no assets, and has ceased trading, or where HMRC is not able to locate the customer (for example, they have no fixed address or where HMRC is not able to trace their location).

Share Fishermen

Emma Hardy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion and number of share fishermen participated in the share fisherman scheme in each year from 2007 to 2018.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with HMRC on the development of an alternative tax budgeting scheme for share fishermen.

Jesse Norman: There have been no such discussions between HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs to date. The information regarding what proportion and number of share fishermen participated in the share fisherman scheme in each year from 2007 to 2017 is not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs. However, HMRC are able to report that as of October 2018, there were 964 fishermen registered for the National scheme and 242 fishermen registered for the Scottish scheme.

Consumers: Expenditure

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the change in the level of consumer spending in the UK.

John Glen: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces both quarterly and annual estimates of household final consumption expenditure (HHFCE). Household consumption grew by 1.8% in 2018, supported by a strong labour market which has seen the unemployment rate at its lowest since 1975, and regular wages outstripping inflation for over a year. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast consumption to grow in every year of their forecast.

Dementia: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on funding for dementia care.

Elizabeth Truss: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was paid in fines by people who submitted tax returns after the deadline of 31 January in each year since 2018.

Jesse Norman: Analysis of self-assessment penalty data is complex and HMRC are currently investigating whether it is possible to provide the requested figures. I shall write to the Honourable Member shortly and place a copy of the letter in the Library of both Houses.

Tax Avoidance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the 2019 Loan Charge on the (a) mental health and (b) livelihoods of people affected by that Charge.

Jesse Norman: The Government published a report on the loan charge in March 2019. The report was required by section 95 of Finance Act 2019, but goes wider than the review set out in legislation, explaining the rationale for the charge and considering its impacts. The report also provides information on how HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) support individuals affected by the loan charge including, where appropriate, referring individuals who need additional support to organisations such as Samaritans and Mind. The report is available online at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-time-limits-and-the-disguised-remuneration-loan-charge.

Pensions: Public Sector

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government has taken to implement its response to the Indexation and equalisation of the Guaranteed Minimum Pension in public service pension schemes consultation for people reaching state pension age after December 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has implemented the commitment made in the January 2018 GMP equalisation and indexation consultation response to continue to index the total public service pension, including the GMP, for public servants who reach State Pension age on or after 6 December 2018 and before 6 April 2021.

Cash Dispensing

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor for the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with banks on the potential effect on rural communities of the removal of free cash machines from high streets.

John Glen: The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is closely monitoring developments in ATM provision. The PSR regulates LINK, the scheme which runs the UK’s ATM network, and has used its powers to hold LINK to account over LINK’s commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of the ATM network. LINK has put in place specific arrangements to protect free-to-use ATMs more than 1 kilometre away from the next nearest free-to-use ATM. LINK has also enhanced its Financial Inclusion Programme, increasing the funding available for free ATMs in the most remote rural and deprived areas of the UK. The wider banking and finance industry is committed to helping local communities identify and secure appropriate free access to cash for customers. Regarding specific discussions, Treasury Ministers and Officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.

Economic Crime Strategic Board

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation his Department undertook in determining the membership of the Economic Crime Strategy Board.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation his Department undertook in determining private sector representation on the Economic Crime Strategy Board.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether representatives from (a) academic institutions and (b) civil society were invited to sit on the Economic Crime Strategy Board.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role the chief executive officers and chief executives from (a) Barclays, (b) Lloyds and (c) Santander will perform in determining the UK’s operational response to economic crime.

John Glen: The Economic Crime Strategic Board’s membership comprises senior representatives from the organisations – in both public and private sectors – most critical to tackling economic crime. This includes representatives from government departments, law enforcement, regulators and the banking, legal, accountancy and real estate sectors. The decision to have private sector representation reflects the regulated sector’s role as the first line of defence against economic crime. The Board sets priorities, directs resources and scrutinises performance against the economic crime threat. It does not perform any role in determining regulators’ or law enforcement’s operational response to economic crime. Civil society and academic institutions have been consulted in the development of the Economic Crime Plan, a draft of which will be considered at the Board’s next meeting on 10th July. Following publication of the Plan, the government will be reviewing the overall governance for economic crime. This review will consider how civil society should be best engaged.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Northern Ireland Borders Steering Group, run by the Borders Delivery Group has met since 7 December 2018.

Jesse Norman: The Northern Ireland Borders Steering Group, run by the Border Delivery Group met on 27 February 2019. Members of the Steering Group were also included in a wider stakeholder call on 15 March 2019.

Infrastructure: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish a response to the consultation paper entitled, Infrastructure Finance Review, published by his Department in March 2019.

Robert Jenrick: The Infrastructure Finance Review consultation closed on 5 June. The government is currently reviewing responses, and intends to conclude the review alongside the National Infrastructure Strategy at the Spending Review.

Fraud

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role the chief executives of Barclays Bank, Lloyds Bank and Santander will play in determining the UK’s policy response to economic crime.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has (a) received and (b) responded to objections on the representation on the Economic Crime Strategy Board; and if he will publish any such responses.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the date and agenda for the next meeting of the Economic Crime Strategy Board.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the minutes of the Economic Crime Strategy Board meetings will be published.

John Glen: The next Economic Crime Strategic Board will take place on 10 July 2019.The Board will discuss the draft Economic Crime Plan and a joint public-private economic crime threat update. The outcomes of the meeting will be published in due course. The Board’s role is to set priorities, direct resources and scrutinise performance against the economic crime threat. The UK’s policy response to economic crime is set by the government. A wide range of stakeholders from both the private sector and civil society have been consulted to inform the development of the Economic Crime Plan. Following publication of the Plan, the government will review the governance around the overall response to economic crime.

Schools: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the adequacy of central government funding for schools.

Elizabeth Truss: Treasury ministers regularly discuss public spending issues with Cabinet Colleagues. This year the Government is investing £43 billion of core funding into schools ensuring, that core schools funding grows in real terms per pupil. The National Funding Formula is providing every local authority with more money for every pupil in every school.

Sovereign Grant

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trends in the Sovereign Grant and Sovereign Grant Reserve over the last three years.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the difference between the expenditure of the Royal Household and the amount of the Sovereign Grant allocated in each year since its introduction.

Robert Jenrick: The Chancellor of the Exchequer is one of the three Royal Trustees, alongside the Prime Minister and the Keeper of the Privy Purse. As required under the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, in each financial year the Royal Trustees publish a report setting out how the Sovereign Grant is calculated for the following financial year. This includes an analysis of the Reserve. The Royal Trustee’s report on the Sovereign Grant for 2019-20 was published in October 2018, and can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sovereign-grant-act-2011-report-of-the-royal-trustees-on-the-sovereign-grant-for-2019-20

Sovereign Grant

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue forgone to the public purse from the recalculation of the Sovereign-Grant from 15 per cent to 25 per cent of the Crown Estate profits for the financial years 2017-18 to 2027-28.

Robert Jenrick: As set out in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, the Sovereign Grant is set by reference to the revenue of The Crown Estate. In exchange for the Sovereign Grant, The Queen surrenders the revenue from The Crown Estate to the government, which in 2018-19 was £343.5 million, and over the last ten years has resulted in an over £2.8 billion contribution to supporting our vital public services. The Sovereign Grant for 2019-20 is £82.4 million. Under Section 8 of the Sovereign Grant Act, HM Treasury can vary by order the percentage for the Sovereign Grant where the Royal Trustees consider that the current percentage is not appropriate. Following the 2016 Report of the Royal Trustees on the Sovereign Grant Review, in 2017 the percentage was increased from 15% to 25% in order to enable substantial works to reservice Buckingham Palace, to ensure that the Palace can continue to be able to support the Sovereign in the performance of Her official duties. This report set out in detail that Buckingham Palace’s infrastructure urgently needed a major overhaul to avoid the very real danger of catastrophic failure leading to fire or flood. The reservicing will be a ten year programme, at a total cost of £369 million. The report is available on the gov.uk website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-of-the-royal-trustees-on-the-sovereign-grant-review-2016

Sovereign Grant

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the £37.8 million spent by the Sovereign on property maintenance was spent on (a) Buckingham Palace, (b) St James's Palace, (c) Windsor Castle, (d) Hampton Court Mews, (e) Windsor Home Park and (f) Kensington Palace.

Robert Jenrick: HM Treasury does not hold this information. As set out in the 2018-19 Sovereign Grant Annual Report and Accounts, the £37.8 million spent on property maintenance comprises £14.1 million expenditure on the Reservicing of Buckingham Palace and £23.7 million on core activities. The Report and Accounts detail all core projects across the Estate costing over £350,000, as set out on pages 8 to 12. Future projects are outlined on pages 24 to 25. The Report and the Accounts can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sovereign-grant-accounts

Electricity Generation: Private Sector

Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of private sector ownership of electricity networks.

Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the re-nationalisation of electricity networks on the level of personal pensions.

Robert Jenrick: The Government is fully committed to a model of private ownership with strong independent economic regulation and ensuring this model delivers for consumers. The Government has not conducted a recent assessment of the merits of private sector ownership of electricity networks; nor an assessment of the potential effect of the re-nationalisation of electricity networks on the level of personal pensions.

Tax Avoidance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to undertake a review of IR35 legislation ahead of the introduction of Off-Payroll tax.

Jesse Norman: A consultation on the detail of extending reform of the off-payroll rules closed in May and the Government will publish its response in due course. The Government is considering the responses to that consultation, which will be taken into account in the design of the draft Finance Bill legislation which will be published on 11 July. The off-payroll working rules (commonly known as IR35) are designed to ensure that individuals who work like employees pay broadly the same income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) as employees, regardless of the structure they work through. The rules have been in place since 2000. HMRC data shows non-compliance with these rules is widespread. To address this, the Government is extending the previous reforms for the public sector to all medium and large organisations from April 2020. This reform will ensure better compliance with the rules. It does not introduce a new tax. HMRC have measured the impact of reforming the off-payroll rules in the public sector and estimate the reform has already raised an additional £550 million in income tax and NICs in the first 12 months since it was introduced. HMRC also published independent research into the impact of these reforms in May 2018.

Tax Avoidance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to tackle stakeholders' concerns on the Check Employment Status for Tax tool ahead of the introduction of the Off-Payroll tax.

Jesse Norman: HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) service was rigorously tested against known case law and settled cases, and HMRC stand by the result if it is used in accordance with its guidance. HMRC continue to enhance CEST in response to stakeholders’ concerns. Improvements will be made to language and presentation and include guidance to ensure questions are clearly understood. Changes are being tested with tax specialists and users of the service to ensure they meet individuals’ and businesses’ needs.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Lotteries: Prizes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to raise the maximum prize limit for Society Lotteries to £1 million.

Mims Davies: The Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport ran a consultation on society lotteries reform from June to September 2018. This included the following options for increasing the maximum prize limit:Retaining the current limit of £400,000;Raising the limit to £500,000 (The Government’s preferred option);Raising the limit to £1 million;Reducing the limit to £250,000.We hope to respond to the consultation before the summer recess.

BBC

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June to Question 265492: BBC, what his policy is on funding public service broadcasting in the (a) North East of England and (b) Easington constituency.

Margot James: Public service broadcasting is funded either through the licence fee for the BBC; or through commercial activities of the commercial public service broadcasters, such as ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Public service broadcasters hold a responsibility to ensure that they serve audiences across all parts of the UK and all demographics. The Government continues to encourage all broadcasters to consider what more they can do to increase investment and strengthen their appeal to audiences across the nations and regions, including in the North East of England.

Internet: Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for the aims of the Online Harms White Paper of the adoption of new technical standards to bypass the blocking of online content; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: As set out in the Online Harms White Paper, the Government will establish a new statutory duty of care to make companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users. Compliance with this duty of care will be overseen and enforced by an independent regulator. We are currently consulting on which enforcement powers the regulator should have at its disposal to ensure it can take effective action against companies that breach their legal duty. Alongside this consultation, we continue to work with industry to understand the implications of the changing technologies and to promote approaches that work for the good of all.

Pupils: Sports

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of schoolgirls aged between 11 and 18 participated in at least 30 minutes of sport at least once a week in 2018.

Mims Davies: The first set of data from Sport England’s world-leading Active Lives: Children and Young People survey was released in December 2018. It shows that 33.6% of girls in years 7-8 and 27.7% of girls in years 9-11 do 30 minutes or more of physical activity per day. Activity is measured in daily levels, to align with the Chief Medical Officers’ guidance for children and young people.Levels of activity for girls aged over 16 are captured by the Active Lives (adult) survey, which has a slightly different methodology and so cannot be directly compared. Both surveys are available on Sport England’s website. Government is committed to addressing the gender gap in physical activity levels for boys and girls, including the drop-off in engagement from primary to secondary school. It is important that girls have access to the right sporting opportunities, both in and out of school. This is something government committed to tackle in the Sporting Future strategy, and which will be addressed as part of the new School Sport and Activity Action Plan which will be published before the summer recess.

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with HM Treasury on the application of 20 per cent VAT on e-publications; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: The application of 20 per cent VAT on e-publications is a long-standing concerns of parts of the publishing industry. The Cairncross Review into a sustainable future for journalism recommended extending the zero-rating of VAT to digital newspapers and magazines, including digital-only news publications. The Government is currently considering its response to the Review's recommendations. Decisions on taxation are a matter for HM Treasury.

Television: Licensing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take to help people over 75 with a long-term complex illness such as dementia to pay for a TV licence from June 2020.

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance his Department plans to provide to carers who work with people over 75 to help those people pay for a TV licence from June 2020.

Margot James: The BBC is responsible for the cost and the administration of the over 75 licence fee concession from June 2020. The BBC says that it will work with older peoples groups, charities and voluntary organisations to design a bespoke system to support all those over 75 affected by its decision. As part of this system, the BBC says that its licensing arm, TV Licensing, will make it as easy as possible for carers and family members to act as representatives for pensioners seeking to claim a free TV licence, including those caring for elderly people with complex illnesses like dementia.

Television: Licensing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed changes to the TV licence for people over 75 on the accommodation for residential care concessionary TV licence; and what guidance his Department plans to provide to residential care homes on the effect of the change on that licence.

Margot James: The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. However, the Government has no intention to change the accommodation for residential care licence fee concession. Guidance on the accommodation for residential care licence fee concession can be found on the TV Licensing website: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ78

Television: Licensing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of free TV licences for people aged over 75 on people with sight impairments.

Margot James: The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. However, the Government has no intention to change the blind (severely sight impaired) licence fee concession, regardless of the age of the recipient. Guidance on the blind (severely sight impaired) licence fee concession can be found on the TV Licensing website: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/blindseverely-sight-impaired-aud5

Mobile Phones: Price Fixing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has received reports of alleged price fixing and collusion among mobile phone operators; and whether he plans to ask the relevant authorities to investigate the alleged competition offences that have taken place.

Margot James: The Department is aware of reports of alleged price fixing and collusion among mobile phone operators and understand that this matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings. Investigations of alleged anti-competitive practices are for the relevant competition authorities acting independently of Government.

Hate Crime: Transgender People

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from social media companies to tackle hate speech against transgender people on their platforms.

Margot James: Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with social media companies on a range of issues including the hate speech against transgender people. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Oil: Exploration

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence 300, what the rationale was for the provision to enable an operator to drill to a depth of 4,500 metres.

Chris Skidmore: The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), in its role as independent regulator for oil and gas, is responsible for issuing Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs). The drilling depth specified in the licence for PEDL 300, issued in September 2016, was stated by INEOS as part of their licence application, and sought to target prospective geological formations which, at that time, were thought to lie at that depth. Various other consents and permissions (such as planning permission, environmental permits, drilling consent, etc) are required before any drilling operations can take place. In line with the above, INEOS’ application for planning permission at Bramleymoor Lane, Derbyshire, allows for a well to be drilled to an approximate depth of 2,400m, at which INEOS believe the target geological formations are now thought to lie. The OGA has not at this stage received an application from INEOS for consent to drill the well. At the time of such an application, and subject to other necessary permits, the licensee can seek agreement to reduce the original commitment depth after explaining their geotechnical rationale.

Climate Change: Commonwealth

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to encourage members of the Commonwealth to share the same goals in tackling anthropogenic climate change and global warming.

Chris Skidmore: Climate change has long been of concern to the Commonwealth and the majority of member states continue to advocate for ambitious action on climate change today. Small and vulnerable states – which account for almost 60% of the Commonwealth – face an existential threat from climate change and associated natural disasters. This concern has been reflected in Commonwealth statements as early as the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment in 1989. Under UK chairmanship at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, leaders reaffirmed their commitments under the Paris Agreement. We would expect the Commonwealth to play a major role in ensuring that a UK-hosted COP26 would be a success. The Government is now using its diplomatic network to support mitigation and adaptation across the Commonwealth. For example: In Asia, Malaysia has confirmed its interest in partnering with the UK to develop an emissions calculator. The calculator is an open source energy and emissions tool developed by the UK to allow countries to explore and develop strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Africa, the UK has provided £500,000 to support the Commonwealth’s Climate Finance Access Hub based in Mauritius. The Hub will help small and vulnerable countries access international sources of finance to support adaptation and mitigation. In the Caribbean, the UK is helping four countries – Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, and St Lucia – to prepare detailed disaster risk profiles to aid efforts to increase their resilience to natural disaster. This work builds on existing support from the World Bank and is expected to be extended across the region over the next year. In the Pacific, the UK has pledged £1.2 million to support the establishment in Fiji of a Regional Nationally Determined Contribution Hub. The centre has been established in partnership with Australia, Germany and New Zealand, to help Pacific Island Countries implement national climate change policies and frameworks in response to the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Climate Change Convention: USA

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he took to raise concerns on USA withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement during President Trump's recent visit.

Chris Skidmore: While my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State did not meet with President Trump during the US state visit, the Secretary of State has stressed in discussions with US counterparts that the UK would prefer the US to remain in the Paris Agreement. During the visit, the Prime Minister raised the issue of climate change with President Trump directly and underlined the UK’s support for the Paris Agreement.

Offshore Industry: Helicopters

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the effect on offshore oil and gas workers of flight speed restrictions imposed on H175 helicopters operating in the North Sea.

Chris Skidmore: A speed restriction on H175 helicopters was introduced by the manufacturer on 20th June 2019. This is a temporary measure until a European Aviation Safety Agency Emergency Air Worthiness Directive has been actioned, following which the restriction will no longer apply. During the period of flight speed restriction on H175 helicopters, alternative helicopter types are in operation to take workers to and from oil and gas platforms.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the role that carbon capture and storage technology could play in reducing emissions in the (a) heavy industry, (b) transport, (c) power and (d) heating sectors.

Chris Skidmore: The Government is committed to supporting the development of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) in the UK. CCUS has the potential to support us in meeting our 2050 emissions target and support our Industrial Strategy.Our CCUS Action Plan, published in November 2018, sets out our view that CCUS has a potentially essential role in supporting the decarbonisation of the UK’s economy, reducing emissions from the heavy industry, transport, power and heating sectors.On 27 June we announced that nine companies have secured £26 million of government funding, in addition to industry backing, to advance the rollout of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the UK - a crucial step towards the UK’s net zero emissions and the end of the UK’s contribution to global warming. It is the next milestone for the Government’s ambition for the UK to be a world-leader in the field as laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the CCUS Action Plan.One company, Tata Chemicals is being awarded £4.2m toward the construction of a facility to capture and utilise 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 22,000 cars. When fully operational in 2021 it will be the largest carbon capture plant in the UK, removing 100 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the country’s current largest facility.Our Clean Growth Grand Challenge Mission sets an ambition to establish at least one low-carbon industrial cluster by 2030, and the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040. The Mission is technology neutral but is focussed on technologies that can be delivered cost-effectively through the use of shared networks, and CCUS is one of the key technologies that could help to deliver the mission.Also supporting the mission, the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is a £315m fund aimed at helping industry to transition to a low-carbon future. The fund will help companies cut their energy bills and carbon emissions through investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies. This could include supporting technologies that are strategically important to long-term emissions reductions such as CCUS and Hydrogen.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the role carbon capture and storage technology can play in decarbonising the transport sector.

Chris Skidmore: The Government believes that carbon capture, usage & storage (CCUS) has a potentially important role to play in meeting the UK’s climate targets and supporting our Industrial Strategy. CCUS can add value to the economy and help tackle hard to decarbonise sectors. This includes supporting the decarbonisation of the transport sector, including through enabling the production of low carbon electricity or hydrogen, which could power zero emission vehicles. On 27 June we announced that nine companies have secured £26 million of government funding, in addition to industry backing, to advance the rollout of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the UK - a crucial step towards the UK’s net zero emissions and the end of the UK’s contribution to global warming. It is the next milestone for the Government’s ambition for the UK to be a world-leader in the field as laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the CCUS Action Plan. One company, Tata Chemicals is being awarded £4.2m toward the construction of a facility to capture and utilise 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 22,000 cars.

Biofuels

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of potential UK capacity to supply bioenergy that can generate negative emissions through bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

Chris Skidmore: The Government believes that carbon capture, usage & storage (CCUS) has a potentially important role to play in meeting the UK’s climate targets and supporting our Industrial Strategy. CCUS can add value to the economy and help tackle hard to decarbonise sectors. We recognise that bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could be a key technology in helping us achieve net zero through generation of negative emissions. However, availability of sustainable biomass is finite and as such we need to decide how to best deploy this resource in our efforts to decarbonise across the economy.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of supporting the export of carbon capture, usage and storage technologies.

Chris Skidmore: The Government’s CCUS Action Plan sets out that we see an opportunity for the UK to become a world-leader in carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies, building on our strong domestic supply chain and established skills base.In order to support this, we are investing in over £50 million in CCUS innovation programmes, supporting innovative technologies across the UK between 2017 and 2021.On 27 June we announced that nine companies have secured £26 million of government funding, in addition to industry backing, to advance the rollout of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the UK - a crucial step towards the UK’s net zero emissions and the end of the UK’s contribution to global warming. It is the next milestone for the Government’s ambition for the UK to be a world-leader in the field as laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the CCUS Action PlanOne company, Tata Chemicals is being awarded £4.2m toward the construction of a facility to capture and utilise 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 22,000 cars. When fully operational in 2021 it will be the largest carbon capture plant in the UK, removing 100 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the country’s current largest facility.We also recognise the significant potential opportunities from exporting CCUS technologies as part of realising this ambition, supporting the retention and creation of high-value jobs, creating inward investment opportunities and helping to support CCUS exports which could be worth multiple billions of pounds per year to the UK economy in the future.In order to maximise the export opportunities, we are working closely with the Department for International Trade to map UK capabilities and identify international opportunities in order to support UK-based companies with CCUS expertise, services and products

Climate Change

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a coordinated response across Government on tackling climate change.

Chris Skidmore: Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today, and tackling it is a cross-government priority. The Clean Growth Inter-Ministerial Group, which brings together ministers from across government, is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Clean Growth Strategy and driving ambitious clean growth, decarbonisation and wider environmental policies.

Carbon Emissions: Departmental Coordination

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a cross-departmental committee to implement the transition to a net zero economy.

Chris Skidmore: Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today, and tackling it is a cross-government priority. The Clean Growth Inter-Ministerial Group, which brings together ministers from across government, is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Clean Growth Strategy and driving ambitious clean growth, decarbonisation and wider environmental policies.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) delays to and (b) cancellations of nuclear power station developments does not affect the Government's ability to meet its 2050 climate change targets.

Andrew Stephenson: On 27 June, a new, legally binding target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 came into force. This will require ambitious action across the economy building on our Clean Growth Strategy. Whether it is through our global offshore wind industry, our leadership on green finance, or our unrivalled research base leading the charge on electric vehicles, we are showing the economic benefits of how cutting emissions can help to grow our economy. In the power sector, this will mean significant expansion in low carbon electricity generation, with important roles for renewables, carbon capture usage and storage, and nuclear power. We are already taking action to deliver this through the offshore wind sector deal, a commitment to bi-annual allocation of Contracts for Difference for renewable electricity generation with the third allocation round launched on 29 May, the nuclear sector deal, our review of the viability of a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model for new nuclear power stations, and the CCUS action plan. The planned Energy White Paper will set out more detail on the policy framework that supports our ambitions.

Energy: Housing

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic benefits of a large-scale investment programme to improve the energy efficiency of domestic buildings.

Chris Skidmore: Investment in energy efficiency brings a wide range of economic benefits to households, businesses, society and the energy system as a whole. More efficient homes mean lower energy bills and increased comfort for occupants, the annual running costs of a Band C rated home are £270 lower than the average Band D rated home and £650 lower than the average Band E rated home. There are also benefits through the improved occupant health, the Building Research Establishment has estimated that the cost of cold and damp homes to the NHS is approximately £760 million per year. The energy efficiency industry forms the largest group within the low carbon and renewable energy sector and the UK’s energy efficient product group has a turnover of over £20.7 billion and employs over 140,000 full time equivalents. Energy efficiency can also play a crucial role in meeting our carbon targets at least cost, by helping reduce pressure on energy system as we move towards low carbon electricity and heat. This is why, in the Clean Growth Strategy, we set out our aspiration that as many homes as possible should be Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the Committee on Climate Change conclusion that carbon capture and storage will be needed to fulfil UK climate change targets.

Chris Skidmore: On 27 June a new, legally binding, target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 came into force. This will require ambitious action across the economy building on our Clean Growth Strategy, and carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) is likely to play a vital role Our CCUS Action Plan sets out that we will move to deploying CCUS in the 2020s, working in partnership with industry to achieve this. To support this, on 27 June we announced that nine companies have secured £26 million of government funding, in addition to industry backing, to advance the rollout of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the UK - a crucial step towards the UK’s net zero emissions and the end of the UK’s contribution to global warming. It is the next milestone for the Government’s ambition for the UK to be a world-leader in the field as laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the CCUS Action Plan One company, Tata Chemicals is being awarded £4.2m toward the construction of a facility to capture and utilise 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 22,000 cars. When fully operational in 2021 it will be the largest carbon capture plant in the UK, removing 100 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the country’s current largest facility. We will also shortly be consulting on CCUS business models and the re-use of existing infrastructure assets to support CCUS projects as an important first step to supporting deployment of CCUS in the UK.

Carbon: Scotland

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of Scotland’s offshore storage capacity for carbon.

Chris Skidmore: The UK has significant carbon dioxide storage capacity in both the Central and Southern North Sea and East Irish Sea. The Energy Technologies Institute’s (ETI) CO2 Storage Appraisal Project, funded by the UK Government, identified that the UK has the potential to store more than 78 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide[1] and could be a world leader in carbon dioxide storage services, supporting new economic opportunities by providing carbon dioxide storage for UK and potentially for European emissions for many years in the future[2]. The ETI project also outlined that a number of potential carbon dioxide storage sites across the UK are already well appraised and suitable for carbon dioxide storage. All information from the ETI project and on potential carbon dioxide storage in UK waters more widely is available through the world-leading CO2 Stored database[3]. The database provides the location and size of all known potential carbon dioxide storage sites in UK territorial waters. [1] Energy Technologies Institute LLP, 2017. Taking stock of UK CO2 Storage. Available from: https://www.eti.co.uk/insights/taking-stock-of-uk-co2-storage[2] International Energy Agency, 2017. Energy Technology Perspectives; An evolving energy system. Available from: https://www. iea.org/etp2017/summary/[3] CO2 Stored. Homepage. Available from: http://www. co2stored.co.uk/home/index

Carbon Capture and Storage

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government will adopt the target in the Committee on Climate Change 2018 Progress report to Parliament of achieving 10 MtCO2 in carbon capture and undersea storage per annum by 2030.

Chris Skidmore: On 27 June, a new, legally binding, target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 came into force. This will require ambitious action across the economy building on our Clean Growth Strategy, and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is likely to play a vital role. Our CCUS Action Plan sets out that we will move to deploying CCUS in the 2020s, working in partnership with industry to achieve this. We will shortly be consulting on CCUS business models and the re-use of existing infrastructure assets to support CCUS projects as an important first step to supporting deployment of CCUS in the UK.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Scotland

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the role that carbon capture and storage technology could play in reducing emissions in Scotland.

Chris Skidmore: The Government believes that carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) has a potentially important role to play in meeting the UK’s climate targets and supporting our Industrial Strategy.CCUS can play a critical role across the UK economy, helping to decarbonise industrial regions across the UK, including Grangemouth and St Fergus. Recognising this, we have provided funding, along with the Scottish Government and Total, to support the development of the proposed Project Acorn in St Fergus.CCUS can also support the low carbon transformation of the UK’s industrial base which is why we consider that CCUS will likely play an important role in helping to meet the Industrial Clusters Mission, which was announced at COP24 in December 2018.

Energy: Prices

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's price cap for standard variable tariffs on trends in the level of the average household energy bill.

Chris Skidmore: The price cap protects customers on standard variable and default tariffs from excessive charging. Ofgem estimates that the price cap saves the average customer £75-£100 each year, compared to what they would be paying without the price cap, and a total of £1 billion each year. Non-capped tariffs continue to be competitive, with Ofgem calculating the difference between the most expensive and the cheapest tariff in the market at £381 in May 2019.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of investment in the automotive manufacturing industry in the UK relative to the EU average in the last 12 months.

Andrew Stephenson: The automotive manufacturing industry invested £3.6bn in business research and development in 2017, the latest year for which figures are available. This accounted for over 15% of all UK business research and development and is a record high for the sector. Unfortunately consistent data across EU countries are not available. Automotive investment in business R&D has increased rapidly from 2010 when it stood at £1.2bn (an increase of 190% in nominal terms). Figures for 2018 will be published by the ONS in November 2019, once finalised company accounts for the year are available.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Derelict Land

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to make it easier and quicker for (a) local and (b) combined authorities to take ownership of unused brownfield sites through compulsory purchase with adequate compensation for owners to bring them back into economic use for (i) homes and (ii) employment and remove derelict properties from local communities.

Kit Malthouse: Local and combined authorities already have broad compulsory purchase powers, which can be used to bring brownfield land back into use. We have recently introduced wide-ranging reforms to make the Compulsory Purchase Order process clearer, fairer and faster. Our reforms in the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 and Housing and Planning Act 2016 include clarification of the ‘no scheme principle’ which underpins compensation for compulsory purchase, making it easier and quicker to establish the fair market value of sites. We are keen to let these important reforms bed-in, but will keep the operation of the system under review.

Derelict Land: Walsall

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing in Walsall a pilot scheme to streamline the process of bringing unused brownfield sites back into public use.

Kit Malthouse: Walsall has provided an excellent example of land remediation, involving many partners in enterprise, so that a large derelict and contaminated site can be brought back into employment use. Our revised National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to give substantial weight to the value of re-using suitable brownfield land, and to prioritise its redevelopment wherever possible. The Government has a toolkit of support for this work, including loan funding for site preparation, infrastructure and land assembly; tax relief for land remediation; and Permission in Principle to speed housing-led development at sites on local Registers of brownfield land. Where appropriate, local authorities should seek the interest and support of development partners such as Homes England.Each brownfield site is different and often requires a tailored solution. It is therefore right that local solutions are also explored to find the best approach to brownfield redevelopment for that area, utilising local and national procedures, planning and practice.

Shared Ownership: Greater London

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that shared home ownership is affordable in London.

Kit Malthouse: We believe that Shared Ownership has an important role to play, as part of a diverse and thriving housing market, in helping those who aspire to home ownership but may be otherwise unable to afford it. The combination of rent and mortgage will often be lower than the cost of outright purchase and in many areas lower than the cost of private renting.We have made changes to Guidance for grant funded Shared Ownership, including raising the income cap on Shared Ownership in England from £60,000 to £80,000 and up to £90,000 in London - allowing 175,000 more households to have access Shared Ownership.Between 2015 and 2018 - 6,041 shared ownership homes were completed in London.The Mayor has overall responsibility for housing policy and delivery in London, but we are all agreed that London needs to build many more homes to meet its need. That is why we have agreed that London will receive £4.8 billion of the Affordable Homes Programme funding (including £1.67 billion announced at Spring Statement 2018) to deliver at least 116,000 affordable housing starts by March 2022.

Shared Ownership

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Starter Homes programme on levels of shared ownership.

Kit Malthouse: Since 2010, we have delivered over 430,000 additional affordable homes to rent and buy. Starter Homes, as defined in Chapter 1 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, require secondary legislation to further define the product before they are brought to the market. As the Government's Starter Homes programme is not yet in operation, it will have had no effect on the levels of Shared Ownership. In fact, Shared Ownership completions were over 11,000 in 2018 and have increased every year since we started collecting this data We have been engaging with the industry to ensure the regulations to define Starter Homes are sound and that the product works for all concerned. We intend to lay these regulations before the House later this year.

Shared Ownership

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of what consumer protections are required as private providers enter the shared ownership market.

Kit Malthouse: The vast majority of private shared ownership providers are Registered Providers, regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing. In England, all registered providers of social housing must comply with the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing.Shared ownership leaseholders with private landlords who are not Registered Providers will have the same rights as other private leaseholders.By law, residential managing agents are required to belong to one of the following two redress schemes: The Property Redress Scheme and The Property Ombudsman. Further information can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/lettings-agents-and-property-managers-redress-schemes.Outside of this framework, Government is also committed to exemplary consumer protection across all areas of the housing market. We have established the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group – chaired by Lord Best – to advise on a new regulatory structure for property agents (including letting, managing and sales agents) with an independent regulator and a mandatory code of practice. We expect the group to make their recommendations in July.As new private sector products are developed we will keep the regulatory framework under review to ensure that consumer protections are maintained and enhanced.We also know more needs to be done to strengthen consumer redress for purchasers of new build homes, which is why we have announced our intention for there to be a New Homes Ombudsman to protect the rights of all homebuyers and hold developers to account.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396 on Buildings: Insulation, whether his Department holds video footage of the failed BS 8414 test.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 27 June 2019



The Department does not hold video footage of the test. The test was carried out by a third party and the Department does not typically hold this type of information

Housing: Greater London

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Crossrail 2 on trends in the level of house-building in north-east London; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is considering the recommendations of the Independent Affordability Review of Crossrail 2, and will consider the next steps for the project and its business case – including the potential of the scheme to deliver housing - at the Spending Review.

Homelessness

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the finding, reported in the Guardian on 17 June 2019, that the number of homeless camps forcibly removed by local authorities across the UK has risen from 72 in 2014 to 254 in 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Ministry of Housing, Commnunities and Local Government does not collect any statistics on the number of homeless camps who have been forcibly removed by local authorities.The Guardian article on 17 June 2019 says the estimate is based on a Freedom of Information request to all councils in the UK about how many homeless encampments they had cleared since 2014, how many complaints about encampments they had received and details on charges for confiscated tents and possessions. The article says ‘an encampment was defined as a location where one or more homeless people were living in the area in private or public land’. 336 local authorities out of total of 408 in the UK provided a response. No further details about the overall quality and robustness of these statistics is provided so we are unable to make an assessment of the accuracy of these findings.The Guardian article is available at the following link: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/17/removal-of-homeless-camps-trebles-as-charities-warn-of-out-of-control-crisisThese statistics do not adhere to same rigour as government statistics. The Rough Sleeping Statistics, published on 31 January 2019, which are produced in compliance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics, include people sleeping rough in makeshift camps but no separate figures about the types of sites where people are sleeping rough are recorded or whether they have been forcibly removed by local authorities.These statistics show the total number of people counted or estimated to be sleeping rough in each local authority area in England, on a single night in Autumn 2018 was 4,677. This was down by 74 people or 2 per cent from the 2017 total of 4,751 and was up 2,909 people or 165 per cent from the 2010 total of 1,768. Local authorities use a specific definition to identify people sleeping rough. This includes people sleeping or who are about to bed down in open air locations and other places including tents, cars, and makeshift shelters. The full definition of people sleeping rough is as follows:People sleeping, about to bed down (sitting on/in or standing next to their bedding) or actually bedded down in the open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments). People in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or “bashes” which are makeshift shelters, often comprised of cardboard boxes). The definition does not include people in hostels or shelters, people in campsites or other sites used for recreational purposes or organised protest, squatters or travellers. Bedded down is taken to mean either lying down or sleeping. About to bed down includes those who are sitting in/on or near a sleeping bag or other bedding.These statistics are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2018.This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This year, Rough Sleeping Initiative investment totals £46 million and has been allocated to 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 750 additional staff and over 2,600 bed spaces.

Homelessness

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the forcible removal of camps containing homeless people.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not issue guidance on the removal of tents containing homeless people. Each local authority, together with the police, will make their own plans and decisions about how to best support rough sleepers and ensure their safety in their own area, based on local circumstances. This can include the removal of encampments, alongside support. Encampments can present serious safety risks for the people living in encampments and it is right that local authorities, who know their area best, have the powers they need to respond. A summary of the powers that public bodies have to help them deal with illegal and unauthorised sites, published in 2015, is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampmentsWhere local areas are taking action to remove encampments, we are clear that this needs to go hand-in-hand with considering how to support the people residing in them away from rough sleeping. Safeguards are in place to ensure powers are used appropriately. For example, for Public Space Protection Orders councils must consult with the police and relevant community representatives before making the order, and before the order is made councils must also publish the draft order. The Government guidance on Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-crime-and-policing-bill-anti-social-behaviourThis Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This year, Rough Sleeping Initiative investment totals £46 million and has been allocated to 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 750 additional staff and over 2,600 bed spaces.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the results of the recent fire tests on non-ACM cladding demonstrated; how many blocks those tests found to be affected; and when those blocks will be made safe in the same way as blocks affected by ACM cladding.

Kit Malthouse: We expect the final results of Non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) testing to be available by the Summer. The research findings will be published in due course. The findings will help determine, in consultation with the Independent Expert Advisory Panel, if any additional action is necessary over and above the extant Advice Note, which can be found here:  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765761/Expert_Panel_advice_note_on_non-ACM.pdf

Homelessness: Young People

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the (a) level and (b) risk of homelessness among young people.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping, including for young people. The Homelessness Reduction Act came into force last year. It placed new duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness irrespective of whether a person has ‘priority need’ or may be regarded as being ‘intentionally homeless’, which of course includes young people. Last year we also updated guidance on the ‘Prevention of homelessness and provision of accommodation for 16 and 17-year-old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation’ setting out the respective duties of children’s services and housing services.   The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. Last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Rough Sleeping Strategy committed to creating a new social impact bond, the Young Futures Fund. This builds on the success of the Fair Chances Fund which ran from 2015-2017 and rehoused 1657 18-24 year old's who were or at risk of homelessness.

Temporary Accommodation

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to reduce the number of households living temporarily in bed and breakfasts, private hostels, short-stay houses of multiple occupancy and guesthouses.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Tackling homelessness is a priority for this Government. We are already undertaking a significant programme of work backed by £1.2 billion in funding, to tackle homelessness. This includes supporting local authorities with implementing the landmark Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation and supporting London boroughs to procure more efficiently.The Government has targeted funding streams focused on reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation. For example, we recently launched the £20 million Private Rented Sector (PRS) Access Fund which funds schemes targeting families who are or at risk of homelessness and supporting them to access and sustain PRS accommodation.This Government has been clear that the long term use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children is both inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this practice. Our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness sector, have provided support to help local authorities to end the placement of families in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than 6 weeks.We are working with other government departments to assess what more can be done to address the number of people in temporary accommodation. This work is being overseen by the Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Ministerial Taskforce.

Temporary Accommodation

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people living temporarily on license agreements in privately-owned (a) bed and breakfast accommodation, (b) hostels, (c) short-stay house in multiple occupation and (d) guesthouses were placed by local authorities in discharge of a statutory homelessness duty.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: In October to December 2018 there were a) 6,980 households in bed and breakfast hotels (including shared annexes), of which 2,420 households contained children and b) 5,740 households in hostels (including reception centres, emergency units and refuges) in England.The figures provided are for all people who are owed a statutory homelessness duty by a local authority. They include people in temporary accommodation under assessment, who are owed the main rehousing duty, and who are accommodated for a short period to allow them to source alternative accommodationThese figures are taken from an experimental statistical release and caution should be taken when using the data. Further information is provided in the release available at this link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-october-to-december-2018.

Neighbourhood Development Plans

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to improve the quality of planning advice made available to the neighbourhood planning process.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has recently published updated neighbourhood planning guidance to support communities in the preparation of their plans. The amended guidance includes changes to reflect the updated National Planning Policy Framework which is clear about the important role that neighbourhood plans play in our plan-led system. Additional practical advice is provided through the Government’s £26 million Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme, which includes support from a national network of local neighbourhood planning champions.

Neighbourhood Development Plans

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding is available to communities wishing to undertake a neighbourhood plan.

Kit Malthouse: Government is making available £34.5 million of support for neighbourhood planning for 2018-22. This is comprised of our £26 million Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme and an additional £8.5 million funding, announced in May 2019, to help communities bring forward affordable homes for sale in their neighbourhood plans.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 30 April 2018, HCWS657 on Carbon Monoxide Detection and Safety, when the review of the requirements and the evidence base for improving carbon monoxide detection and safety will be concluded; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Government carried out a review of carbon monoxide alarm requirements in 2018. The findings of this review are being considered alongside responses to the Social Housing Green Paper. We will set out the findings of the review and next steps in the Government response to the Green Paper in September 2019.

Housing: Business Premises

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of disregarding restrictive covenants or planning conditions intended to prevent a domestic residence from operating a business from that premises when taking a decision to transfer a domestic dwelling from council tax to Uniform Business Rate.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has provided to the Valuation Office Agency on dealing with restrictive covenants or planning conditions which apply to domestic dwellings and are intended to prevent any business from operating from such a domestic dwelling when making decisions regarding the transfer of a domestic dwelling from council tax to Uniform Business Rate lists.

Rishi Sunak: The Valuation Office Agency decides whether a property should be subject to council tax or non-domestic rates. The Agency is an executive agency of HMRC and operates independently of Ministers. In reaching a view on the most appropriate listing, the Agency has regard to the relevant provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. I understand that the Agency would not normally take account of whether the use is consistent with planning or other restrictions, rather it would be guided by the facts pertaining to the occupation of the property.

Coal: Opencast Mining

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the Government's policy is on planning permission for the creation of additional opencast coal mines.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to clean growth and we are taking action to reduce our reliance on coal. We have set out our aim to end electricity generation from unabated coal by 2025 and we are also taking action to reduce coal use in industry and heating.In terms of planning policy, the National Planning Policy Framework is already clear that planning permission should not be granted for the extraction of coal unless the proposal is environmentally acceptable or the national, local or community benefits outweigh its likely impacts. The National Planning Policy Framework is a material consideration in the determination of all applications for coal extraction in England.

Garden Communities

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking as part of the loneliness strategy to ensure that community cohesion is considered in the assessment process for prospective Garden Communities.

Kit Malthouse: Prospective garden communities were required to outline how they would achieve ten design qualities in their proposals. These qualities help create places that support cohesive communities, and proposals were assessed against these criteria.More broadly, we included tackling loneliness as a theme at our national design quality conference in February and are currently developing proposals around housing and placemaking for phase 2 of the loneliness strategy.

Leasehold

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeline is for the proposed leasehold reform as set out in the Written Statement entitled Housing Policy Update, published on 2 July 2018, HCWS818.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and freeholders and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. On 27 June, we published the Government response to the technical consultation Implementing reforms to the leasehold system in England.We have confirmed our commitment to legislate to ensure that in future all new houses will be sold on a freehold basis, with specific exemptions for exceptional circumstances, and to reduce ground rents on future leases to a peppercorn (zero financial value).We will also give freeholders on private and mixed-use estates the right to challenge the reasonableness of estate rent charges and the right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to appoint a new property manager. In addition, we will mandate that freeholders and managing agents must provide leasehold information – when a home is being sold – within 15 days and set the maximum fee for providing this information at £200 (plus VAT).We will bring forward the legislation to implement these changes as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is aware of any large-scale fire tests carried out in other EU Member States on High Pressure Laminate cladding since June 2017.

Kit Malthouse: We are not aware of any test carried out in the EU on High Pressure Laminates panels since June 2017 other than the tests the Government is currently undertaking.The Department is aware that manufacturers routinely carry out fire safety tests of their products but is not automatically made aware of these.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has asked private manufacturers to disclose the large-scale fire tests they have carried out on High Pressure Laminate cladding since June 2017.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has asked manufacturers of High Pressure Laminate cladding to disclose the result of large-scale fire tests they have carried out on High-Pressure Laminate cladding since 2005.

Kit Malthouse: In summer 2017, the Department asked Building Research Establishment (BRE) to contact all of their customers to ask them to publish information about large scale tests. BRE contacted their customers who had tested and achieved BR 135 classifications for their external cladding systems. Where permission to publish details of a cladding system has been granted, the BRE produced a database which summarises the generic components included within the successfully tested cladding systems. The data base is available at the following: https://www.bre.co.uk/regulatory-testingIn addition the Department is aware that a number of product manufacturers have voluntarily made this information available on their websites.

Ministry of Defence

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if she will publish the (a) dates of training, (b) organisations trained and (c) programmes of training events provided by UK military personnel to the Saudi Arabian (i) armed forces and (ii) National Guard since March 2015 to help with compliance with International Humanitarian Law.

Mark Lancaster: All training provided in the UK or in Saudi Arabia by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces, National Guard (SANG), and Saudi MOD - supports and encourages compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Details of all training provided since March 2015 is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Future Large Aircraft

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June to Question 266855 on Future Large Aircraft, what the cost to the public purse is of the anticipated work programme to improve the reliability of the A400M; what the planned length of time is for the completion of that programme; what the key features are of that programme; and whether that work programme will take place at RAF Brize Norton.

Stuart Andrew: There is no additional cost to the public purse of the work programme to improve the reliability of the A400M, which is funded by industry. This is planned to conclude by the third quarter of 2020 and will comprise work to upgrade the engines, gearboxes and the Bleed Air Leak Detection System. A separate package of work will provide an avionics update. The work is being undertaken both at RAF Brize Norton and Airbus facilities in Spain (Seville and Getafe).

Warrior Armoured Vehicle

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether she has plans to cancel the Warrior Capability Upgrade Programme; and if she will make a statement.

Stuart Andrew: The capability the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme will deliver constitutes a crucial part of the Army's planned modernised Armoured Infantry Brigade. There are no plans to cancel it.

European Fighter Aircraft

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Typhoon aircraft have been delivered to the RAF; and how many Typhoon aircraft on order are (a) Tranche 1, (b) Tranche 2 and (c) Tranche 3 aircraft.

Stuart Andrew: To date, the Royal Air Force has taken delivery of 156 Typhoon aircraft. There are four remaining aircraft on order, all of which are Tranche 3.

Future Large Aircraft

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what requirements for troops to parachute from the A400M were included in the original specification for that aircraft; whether the A400M has been cleared to deliver that capability; on how many occasions the A400M has delivered that capability; and what assessment she has made of potential technical issues that would prevent the parachuting of troops from the A400M.

Stuart Andrew: The original A400M specification included the requirements to dispatch troops via static line at low and high altitude and freefall from high altitude from both the rear parachute side doors and cargo ramp. Trials have demonstrated that A400M can safely dispatch parachutists via the cargo ramp and using a single side door. At this time that capability has not been used by the UK. Airbus have demonstrated a technical solution to the well-publicised technical challenges of dispatching parachutists simultaneously from both side doors, which is under-going evaluation through the ongoing contracted Airbus development programme.

Future Large Aircraft

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many A400M aircraft have been (a) ordered by and (b) delivered to (i) the RAF, (ii) the Luftwaffe, (iii) the Spanish Air Force, (d) the Italian Air Force and (e) other nations air forces.

Stuart Andrew: A total of 174 A400M aircraft have been ordered to date, the breakdown of aircraft ordered and delivered is as follows: AircraftOrderedDelivered (as of June 2019)RAF12220German Luftwaffe15330Spanish Air force1274Italian Air Force00French Air Force15015Turkish Air Force1108Belgian Air Component180Malaysian Air Force244 Italy is not a participant in the A400M Programme. Notes:1 - A400M Partner Nation2 - Export Customer

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps she is taking to (a) protect the mental health and (b) treat mental health issues of members of the armed forces during training.

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps she is taking to (a) protect the mental health and (b) treat mental health issues of members of the armed forces during service in combat zones.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that maintaining good mental health, and providing treatment when required, is fundamental to maintaining a fit, healthy, and effective military force. The comprehensive 2017 Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy set out measures to further improve the psychological health of the Armed Forces, including a new operating model focusing on Promote, Prevent, Detect and Treat. Personnel in training receive the same mental health support as their fully-trained colleagues, including stress management training and a wide range of psychiatric and psychological treatments. Basic healthcare is available through Service primary care facilities, with treatment delivered primarily from a network of 20 permanent locations, comprising 11 Departments of Community Mental Health, six Mental Health Teams, and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. In-patient care is provided in dedicated psychiatric units through a central MOD contract with a partnership of eight NHS Trusts.   Personnel deployed to combat zones are supported by a GP-led healthcare team with access to a mental health nurse. In Iraq and Afghanistan, we deployed uniformed mental health nurses to deliver in-theatre care and treatment, and consultant psychiatrists visited periodically to provide clinical support. A permanent on-call consultant psychiatrist was available to provide specialist support by phone 24 hours a day, and a UK-based team of a psychiatrist and a mental health nurse was at immediate readiness to deploy to the operational theatre to support the local team if required. Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) is widely employed as a support model for deployed personnel. It aims to empower non-medical staff to spot those who might have been affected by traumatic events in order that their peers and leaders can provide them with appropriate support or, where it is required, to refer them for specialist help. As TRiM is primarily a Unit-led innovation it is intended to reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems.

Hawk Aircraft

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266153 on Hawk Aircraft, how many times have Hawk T1 aircraft been given over to advanced jet training since July 2016.

Stuart Andrew: The use of the Hawk T1 for UK aircrew undertaking Advanced Fast Jet Training ceased in April 2016. However, from 3 April to 26 June 2019, as a mitigation measure to increase training throughput, Hawk T1 aircraft of 100 Squadron have undertaken 98 sorties in that role.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether she plans to hold discussions with the Government of Saudi Arabia on future UK arms sales to that country; and if she will make a statement.

Stuart Andrew: Defence exports are one of many subjects discussed between the UK and Saudi Arabia as part of our ongoing bilateral relationship in which Defence trade remains crucial for our mutual security and prosperity.

Armed Forces: Heart Diseases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what her Department's policy is on screening new recruits to identify the risk of sudden cardiac death.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The full clinical history of recruits is considered. This includes smoking and family history, taking account of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Recruits also receive a full clinical examination.In addition to this, Army recruits have an electrocardiogram and, when clinically indicated, a transthoracic cardiac echo is performed. This screening is designed to detect significant structural and electrophysiological abnormalities.

Church Commissioners

Churches: Theft

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, if the Commissioners will make an estimate of the number of thefts of lead from church buildings in (a) the diocese of St Albans and (b) England in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019 to date.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade

Belt and Road Initiative

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Chartered Institute of Building's report entitled from China Road to Silicon Road, published May 2019, and its finding that China’s Belt and Road Initiative could deliver a $178 billion boost to UK GDP, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for the UK of formally joining the Belt and Road Initiative.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential benefit to the UK construction sector of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions his Department has had with the UK construction sector on the skills that sector can provide to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); and what assessment he has made of the importance of the BRI to future UK-China international partnerships.

Graham Stuart: The UK’s engagement with China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is focused on practical cooperation on infrastructure projects, including pragmatic steps and collaboration to help ensure that projects are delivered in line with the highest economic, environmental, social and financial standards in order to deliver sustainable development outcomes and opportunities for UK and international businesses. UK firms have a global reputation for ensuring long-term efficiency and sustainability are built into infrastructure projects, making them natural partners for Chinese firms’ extensive project delivery capacity. The UK has no plans formally to join the BRI. But the UK is keen to work closely with China to deliver practical cooperation on the potential opportunities from the BRI. At the 10th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in June, I, as the Minister for Investment at the Department for International Trade (DIT), signed a Departmental Memorandum of Understanding with China’s National Development and Reform Commission on Infrastructure Cooperation in Third Countries. It is a technical agreement that focuses on facilitating collaboration between UK and Chinese firms on projects overseas. Such infrastructure projects offer potential for UK companies across a number of sectors, including the construction sector, and the UK Government will provide support to UK companies as appropriate.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the implications for his Department's policy on the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia are of the Court of Appeal ruling on 20 June 2019 in R (on the application of Campaign Against Arms Trade) v. The Secretary of State for International Trade.

Graham Stuart: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the implications of the Court of Appeal ruling on 20 June 2019 in R (on the application of Campaign Against Arms Trade) v. The Secretary of State for International Trade are for his Department's policy on existing licences to export arms to Saudi Arabia.

Graham Stuart: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles: Buses

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the target date for the electrification of the bus network is.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government is committed to decarbonising the UK bus fleet. Since 2010 over £240 million has been provided to fund the cleanest buses, and in February 2019 announced the winners of a £48 million scheme which will fund a further 263 zero emission buses. The Road to Zero Strategy also sets measures towards cleaner road transport, adding up to nearly £1.5 billion of investment and one of the most comprehensive packages of support for the transition to zero emission vehicles in the world.

Driving Tests

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the DVSA's Theory Test for cars and motorcycles, which ten questions within that Test candidates most frequently answered (a) correctly and (b) incorrectly in each of the last three years.

Michael Ellis: In order to protect the integrity of the theory test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency cannot disclose the ten questions candidates most frequently answer (a) correctly and (b) incorrectly.

Helicopters: Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Civil Aviation Authority and (b) European Aviation Safety Agency on the imposition by Airbus of flight speed restrictions on H175 helicopters used to transport offshore oil and gas workers.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent news reports of a crack in the tailpiece of a H175 helicopter operated by NHV from Aberdeen to offshore oil and gas installations; and what steps he is taking to reassure offshore workers about the safety of H175 models.

Michael Ellis: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published an Emergency Airworthiness Directive, relating to the Airbus Helicopters EC175, which mandates inspections of the Horizontal Stabiliser main spar before the next flight, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 10 flight hours. Airbus Helicopters issued an Emergency Alert Service Bulletin temporarily restricting EC175 helicopters to a maximum speed of 80 knots to facilitate a return to a maintenance facility for these inspections to be carried out. When the EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive is complied with, the speed restriction no longer applies. As the UK’s aviation safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) monitors all aspects of the operations of offshore helicopter companies and any risks to safe operation through its safety oversight programme and is in close contact with EASA and offshore helicopter operators on this subject. The Secretary of State has not had direct contact on this issue.

Helicopters: Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Civil Aviation Authority’s Safety review of offshore public transport helicopter operations in support of the exploitation of oil and gas, CAP1145, will be completed.

Michael Ellis: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) seeks to ensure that North Sea helicopter flights are as safe as possible. It is carefully reviewing the Recommendations and Actions in CAP 1145 to check that they achieve the objective of making further improvements to offshore helicopter safety standards. The CAA currently intends to publish the review in the autumn of 2019.

West Anglia Railway Line

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of passengers on the West Anglia Main Line into London.

Andrew Jones: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes data on the number of rail passenger journeys by train operator and sector. However, passenger journeys at a route or line level are not available. Greater Anglia and CrossCountry operate services on the West Anglia Main Line. Data for the total number of passenger journeys made on these operators are provided in the table below: Table 1: Passenger journeys on Greater Anglia and CrossCountry (millions), 2011-12 to 2018-19Financial yearCrossCountry passenger journeys (millions)Greater Anglia passenger journeys (millions)2011-1233.0122.82012-1333.4126.42013-1434.2135.22014-1535.4143.42015-1637.291.72016-1738.782.02017-1840.181.32018-1940.784.9 Note: In May 2015, Greater Anglia transferred some of its services to London Overground and TfL Rail. The number of passenger journeys on Greater Anglia services are therefore not directly comparable across years. Passenger journeys by train operator are available at the following link:https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/2b2e2c38-c822-4e1f-9fb4-b049b3c13899

Taxis: Assistance Animals

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that taxi and private hire vehicle drivers are aware that it is illegal to refuse travel to a passenger with an assistance dog.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) provide vital services for disabled people, and it is unacceptable for drivers of these vehicles to refuse the carriage of passengers with assistance dogs. In February, the Government published its response to the report of the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxis and PHV licensing, indicating its intention to introduce mandatory disability awareness training as part of National Minimum Standards. In the meanwhile, I would urge licensing authorities to use their existing licensing powers to ensure that all taxi and PHV drivers have the knowledge and skills necessary to provide every passenger with the assistance they require.

Taxis: Assistance Animals

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people who depend on assistance dogs are not rejected by taxis and private hire vehicles.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) provide vital services for disabled people, and it is unacceptable for drivers of these vehicles to refuse the carriage of passengers with assistance dogs. In February, the Government published its response to the report of the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on taxis and PHV licensing, indicating its intention to introduce mandatory disability awareness training as part of National Minimum Standards that will enable everyone, including those travelling with assistance dogs, to reach their destination easily, confidently and at no additional cost. In the meanwhile, I would urge licensing authorities to use their existing licensing powers to ensure that all taxi and PHV drivers have the knowledge and skills necessary to provide every passenger with the assistance they require.

Motor Vehicles: ICT

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of automotive-telematic products for road safety and the environment.

Michael Ellis: The Department for Transport recognises the potential benefits of telematics and other in-vehicle technologies in promoting fuel-efficient driving behaviours, which could save motorists and businesses money and reduce vehicle emissions. In line with our commitment in Government’s ‘Road to Zero’ strategy, the Department has established a technology taskforce with the motoring and insurance industries to explore the role that new vehicle technologies has to play, and put in place appropriate interventions. The Department is also exploring the potential benefits of this technology in reducing the risk of young driver collisions through the Driver 2020 project.

Network Rail

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the transfer of Network Rail's System Operator responsibilities to the devolved regional routes on the effectiveness of Network Rail; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Decisions on the devolved regional routes as part of their Putting Passengers First programme are a matter for Network Rail. The Department for Transport is supportive of the proposals in Putting Passengers First and will continue to engage with Network Rail as they implement the programme.

Blue Badge Scheme

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department plans to use to assess the effectiveness of its new guidance issued on Blue Badges for people with (a) dementia and (b) other hidden disabilities.

Michael Ellis: The Department will review the impact of the expanded criteria 12 months after implementation. Local Authorities are responsible for administering the scheme. The Department has no authority to store or capture personal data. However, we will be able to track how many badges are being awarded under the new criteria in England from 30 August 2019 but it will not be condition or disability specific.

Blue Badge Scheme: Dementia

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to collect data on the number of people with dementia that have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in applying for a Blue Badge.

Michael Ellis: The Department plans to collect data via the Blue Badge Digital Service to determine the number of successful and unsuccessful applications submitted online under the new criteria from the 30 August 2019. However, the data collected will not be condition or disability specific.

Railways: Crime

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has held with the (a) Scottish Government and (b) British Transport Police on tackling crime on Scotland's railways.

Andrew Jones: Policing is a devolved matter and policing in Scotland is therefore devolved to the Scottish Government. I am not aware of any recent discussions involving the Secretary of State for Transport. The policing of the railway in Scotland is delivered by the British Transport Police (BTP) who work closely with train operating companies and the Scottish Government.

Network Rail: Property

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the value for money achieved through (a) the sale of Network Rail arches to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners and (b) Network Rail’s re-purchase of some railway arches.

Andrew Jones: The sale of Network Rail arches to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners achieved value for money from the taxpayer, with £1.46bn of proceeds raised. Any properties required as part of known upgrades during CP6 were excluded from the original sale. The costs of taking back any further arches will be taken into consideration as part of the cost of any potential future upgrades. It is also worth noting that before the sale of arches, in instances where NR needed to take back arches for railway purposes, NR would have lost the rental income and therefore the value equation is similar.

Network Rail: Property

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of railway arches owned by (a) Network Rail and (b) Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners.

Andrew Jones: As part of the sale Network Rail retained 1224 (25%) railway arches out of a total of 4930. Telereal Trillium and Blackstone property were sold the remaining 3706 (75%).

Network Rail: Property

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that Network Rail's sale of railway arches was fully scrutinised; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Network Rail maintains its obligations to protect railway lines above property owned by another company.

Andrew Jones: The Department was fully engaged throughout the sale and approved the business case at each stage of the transaction process. As the NAO report, published on the 2 May 2019 makes clear, the transaction was managed and executed professionally and, based on the price paid for the portfolio, the sale represented value for money. Network Rail has preserved in full its ability to prevent occupational tenants from damaging or endangering the railway or its operations, to inspect and carry out works required for the repair and renewal of railway infrastructure, and to take back assets as required to deliver railway-related projects. The leasehold structure of the sale was necessary to protect these rights. The ORR – as the regulator for the safety of the railway infrastructure – was satisfied that a leasehold sale would not negatively impact the railway.

Network Rail: Property

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for conflict between Network Rail’s role in providing public infrastructure and acting as a private landlord.

Andrew Jones: There is no conflict for Network Rail between its statutory role in relation to infrastructure and in acting commercially to generate income to fund the operational railway, in accordance with the terms of Managing Public Money. Its occupational leases are designed to protect the safety, function and operation of the railway, as is the headlease of the sale.

Transport: Disability

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who is responsible for monitoring compliance by transport companies with the law on disability access.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: This varies according to the mode of transport that each company operates. The Office of Rail and Road monitors compliance by train operating companies, the Civil Aviation Authority monitors compliance by airports and airlines, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency monitors compliance by maritime operators, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency monitors compliance by bus operators, and each local authority monitors compliance by taxi and private hire vehicle operators in their authority.

Driving: Qualifications

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on securing the recognition by EU countries of UK certificate of professional competence driving qualifications in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal; and if he will make statement.

Chris Grayling: The Government as a whole are working hard to minimise any disruption to businesses and citizens that may arise in a no deal scenario. The Department continues to cooperate with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on their EU exit preparations for recognition of professional qualifications. The EU contingency regulation (Regulation 2019/501) includes the right for UK drivers to drive for UK operators on all journeys permitted under it based on a UK Driver CPC.

Railways: Franchises

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his policy that the (a) Department or (b) rail franchise operator announces (i) extensions, (ii) direct awards and (iii) other changes to franchise agreements.

Andrew Jones: The department publishes the signed Franchise Agreement/signed Deed of Amendment for a Direct Award (once the DFT and the TOC agree any redactions to ensure commercial confidentiality) on the Rail Public Register. Private businesses fulfil their legal requirement to make commercial announcements in line with their market obligations.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wigan

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267348, whether hybrid HS2 trains will stop at Wigan Station.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 conventional compatible services will stop at Wigan North Western station from the opening of Phase One. The detail on the frequency and nature of these services will be part of future timetabling decisions.

Transport: Loneliness

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken with the Loneliness Action Group to improve the transport network as part of the Government's loneliness strategy, published in October 2018.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Transport has a key role to play in tackling loneliness and the Department is very active in the cross-Government efforts to tackle loneliness, working closely with stakeholders to ensure transport's role is fully aligned to the wider strategy. Government has engaged closely with the Loneliness Action Group in the development, and now implementation, of its loneliness strategy, and regularly attend the quarterly Loneliness Action Group meetings, to share updates and hear views from the group. The Department will continue to engage widely in support of the implementation of the Government’s strategy and to ensure our transport network plays its part in this vital area.

Bus Services: Franchises

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of local authorities franchising of bus services.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Bus Services Act 2017 introduced new bus franchising powers for local authorities as well as providing other tools such as Enhanced Partnerships to improve bus services. Officials have met with a number of interested local authorities to help them understand the opportunities in the Act to improve bus services in their area. It is up to individual local authorities to decide what powers in the act to use and the Department has published guidance and continues to provide advice when requested to those that are taking plans forward.

Railways: Bolton

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there are plans to introduce a Sunday rail service for Moses Gate, Farnworth and Kearsley stations.

Andrew Jones: There are currently no plans to introduce a Sunday rail service at these stations as part of Northern’s franchise agreement, the specification for which was developed in consultation with local authorities and Transport for the North. Whilst the railway needs to balance passenger and stakeholder aspirations with the practical and economic viability of running additional services, ideas for these can always be put forward for consideration to Transport for the North.

East-West Rail Link

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the level of greenhouse gas emissions of the decision to exclude electrification from the scope of the Western Phase of the East West Rail project.

Andrew Jones: The publicly available Environmental Statement which was prepared as part of the TWAO for the Western Section, includes a robust assessment of emissions from diesel trains during the operation of the Order Scheme, as well as construction and operational road traffic emissions. Passive provision for electrification is being provided in the construction of the Western Section allowing electrification to be implemented in the future should it represent good value for money. The East West Railway Company is continuing to work with government and other agencies to explore options for a local natural capital plan for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc as a whole, and to support the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan.

Motor Vehicles: Hire Services

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support the Government provides to vehicle rental companies to transition their fleet to electric vehicles.

Michael Ellis: Vehicle rental companies are able to take advantage of various grant funding schemes the Government has in place to assist with the cost of buying plug-in electric vehicles, including passenger cars, taxis, vans and motorcycles. They can also make use of the Workplace Charging Scheme to help pay for the installation of electric vehicle chargepoints. In addition, the Government has put in place a favourable tax regime which rewards the cleanest vehicles including rental company fleets.

Network Rail: Property

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times his Department has issued a Certificate of Lawfulness to Network Rail for entry to a tenanted railway arch under section 14 of the Railway Regulation Act 1842 in the last five years in (a) London and (b) England.

Andrew Jones: In the last five years there has only been one instance of Network Rail issuing a Certificate of Lawfulness for entry to a tenanted railway arch and that was in London. In this instance it was an emergency entry without prior consent by the Department for Transport, who were subsequently notified and raised no objections.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Military Intervention

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266880 on Yemen: Military Intervention and with reference to the news article entitled, The Saudis couldn’t do it without us: the UK’s true role in Yemen’s deadly war, published by The Guardian on 18 June 2019 in which a senior UK diplomatic source stated that the UK was a party to the conflict in Yemen, for what reason the Answer stated that the UK is not part of the coalition operating in Yemen but did not state whether the UK is a party to the conflict.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As stated in my answer of 24 June (PQ 266880), the UK is not part of the Saudi-led Coalition operating in Yemen. The UK does supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect its national security against critical threats, such as the ballistic missiles and drones fired by the Houthis into civilian areas in Saudi Arabia. Because of this, we decided to provide information, advice and assistance to Saudi Arabia in responding to this threat. This assistance is part of our ongoing defence relationship with Saudi Arabia. This does not mean that the UK has a role in setting Coalition policy and our assistance is clearly limited to addressing this specific threat. We cannot comment further for operational security reasons except to say that all UK military personnel in Saudi Arabia remain under UK command and control.

IRA: Libya

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that tax receipts derived from the interest on frozen Libyan assets held in UK banks are used to compensate the victims of Libyan state-sponsored violence committed by the IRA; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Foreign Secretary's appointment of a Special Representative on UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism shows that the Government is committed to supporting the victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism. The precise terms of reference of the Special Representative are being finalised, but among the issues Mr William Shawcross will advise on is the amount of compensation that should be sought. The Government believes that any compensation plan should reflect the Special Representative's advice on this matter.

Christianity: Oppression

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will write to the UN Secretary General highlighting the recent Open Doors report on the persecution of Christians worldwide.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government works with a large number of Non-Governemntal Organisations (NGOs), including Open Doors, to help promote and protect freedom of religion or belief. We do not routinely raise specific reports by NGOs, but we work closely on this matter with international partners, and through the UN, using information from a wide range of sources to inform our work, and will continue to do so.

Western Sahara: Sovereignty

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Moroccan counterpart on independence for Western Sahara.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government regards the final status of Western Sahara as undetermined, and supports UN-led efforts to reach a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. As a member of the UN Security Council, the UK regularly discusses Western Sahara with Morocco and others, most recently during the renewal of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)’s mandate in April. We continue to convey to Morocco the importance we attach to reaching a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that MINURSO systematically monitor human rights violations in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara and that those reports are given directly to the UN Security Council.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK has consistently supported references to human rights in the UN Security Council resolutions setting the mandate for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)'s activities. In particular, we have supported language encouraging the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps.

Russia: Council of Europe

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the Council of Europe’s decision allowing Russia to return to the human rights watchdog.

Sir Alan Duncan: The decision to adopt rules changes that saw the return of the Russian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly was a matter for the Assembly, which is independent from the intergovernmental Committee of Ministers. Russia's membership of the Council of Europe provides access, valued by Russian citizens and human rights NGOs, to the European Court of Human Rights and is one of the few ways available to the international community to hold Russia to account for its human rights violations. The British government did not, however, support Russia's unconditional return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. We consistently called on Russia to fulfil all its obligations as a Member State, including payment of all debts to the Council of Europe, and to adhere to Council of Europe standards on human rights, democracy and rule of law. We will continue our efforts in the Council of Europe to ensure Russia is answerable for its actions. We will also continue to make clear that we do not and will never recognise Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.

Jagtar Singh Johal

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made with his Indian counterpart on securing the release of Jagtar Singh Johal.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We make frequent representations on Mr Johal's behalf. Most recently, the British High Commissioner to India raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian Foreign Secretary on 10 May, and with the Indian High Commissioner to the UK on 10 June. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific also raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian Foreign Secretary on 12 March. The Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Asia and the Pacific met with Mr Johal's family and their MP, Martin Docherty-Hughes on 24 April. Our consular staff in India continue to regularly visit Mr Johal.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much money was paid by organisations contracted by his Department to deliver aid projects to consultants in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID does not hold information on the contractual monetary value of work our suppliers subcontract across all our programmes, nor can we determine whether this is to consultants or not.

Developing Countries: Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of depression in developing countries.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate one in four people worldwide will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. However, there is a dire lack of accurate data on mental health conditions, including depression, in developing countries. My department is committed to taking a comprehensive and rights-based approach to mental health in our work. DFID’s Disability Inclusion Strategy commits to UK Aid increasing the promotion of well-being, access to integrated, quality mental health services, and facilitation of recovery, empowerment and inclusion for people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities.

Syria and Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Idlib and (b) Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: In Idlib and surrounding areas, the current offensive by Assad’s regime and Russian forces is compounding an already dire humanitarian situation, with 2.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. We are alarmed by UN reports that over 327,500 people have been displaced between 1 May and 13 June and more than 37 schools and 26 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes. DFID is committed to alleviating the suffering among those affected and is working with our partners to scale up our response to meet the growing needs among displaced people, including through the distribution of food, shelter and other essential items. In Yemen, nearly 80 per cent of the entire population – over 24 million people – require some form of humanitarian assistance and almost 10 million people face extreme food shortages. In response to the crisis in Yemen, the UK has allocated £200 million this financial year alone. This funding will provide food for over a million Yemenis each month, screen 660,000 children under the age of five for malnutrition and provide urgent treatment for 30,000 of the most vulnerable children.

Department for Education

Learning Disability Week: Publicity

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education,  what events he plans to attend to highlight Learning Disability Week 2019.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government’s ambition for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities is the same as for all other children and young people: a good start in life; that they achieve well in school and further education; are prepared for adulthood; and lead happy and fulfilled lives.My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education would have been delighted to attend an event but unfortunately could not due to competing priorities; he wishes every success to all those who participated in the range of events and activities that were held to mark it.

Post-18 Education and Funding Review

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to implement the Augar recommendations to deliver a fairer higher education system.

Chris Skidmore: The government will consider the panel’s recommendations carefully and will conclude the review at the Spending Review. The government has not yet taken decisions with regards to the recommendations put forward.

Pupils: Health and Sports

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how long the funding commitments are for the (a) Primary Sports Premium and (b) Healthy Pupils Capital Fund.

Nadhim Zahawi: The primary PE and Sports Premium funding is committed up until the end of the 2019/20 academic year.The healthy pupils capital fund was announced as a one-off fund for 2018-19.Funding for the 2020/21 academic year onwards will be considered in the context of the next Spending Review.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what programmes are being funded by the revenue raised from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Budget 2016 announced funding for a number of programmes linked to the revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. The Department for Education will receive £575 million during the current Spending Review period. Funding for 2020-21 onwards will be considered at the next Spending Review.The funding has been used for the following projects:Healthy Pupils Capital Fund (HCPF) - £100 million of revenue generated from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is being used for the HCPF. This one-year fund for 2018-19 is intended to improve children’s and young people’s physical and mental health. This is being achieved through enhancing access to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions. These facilities include kitchens, dining facilities, changing rooms, playgrounds and sports facilities. There are no plans for the HCPF to continue beyond 2018-19.Primary PE and Sport Premium - In September 2017 we announced doubled funding for the Primary PE and Sport Premium to £320 million a year using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.Essential Life Skills (ELS) - We have invested £22 million in an ELS programme to enable disadvantaged children and young people, living in some of the most deprived parts of the country to participate in regular extra-curricular activities which will enable them to develop essential life skills and get the best start in life. The ELS programme is targeting disadvantaged children and young people aged 5-18 across 12 opportunity areas (OA). We have disbursed funding of £7.95 million in 2017-18 and £13.8 million in 2018-19 to the 12 OAs to deliver ELS activities.National Schools Breakfast Programme (NSBP) - We are investing up to £26 million into the NSBP. This money will kick start or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools. The focus of these clubs has been to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country (including the Department for Education’s OAs) to help make sure every child gets the best start in life.

Pupil Exclusions

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the number of (a) fixed-term and (b) permanent school exclusions by local authority area for each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The national statistics release, ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England: 2016 to 2017’ includes information on the number and rate of permanent and fixed period exclusions.The release is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2016-to-2017.In the underlying data, the file ‘national_region_la_school_data_exc1617.csv’ includes information at local authority level by year.

Social Mobility

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to respond to the recommendations in the report entitled, Elitist Britain 2019, published by the Social Mobility Commission in June 2019.

Nadhim Zahawi: We welcome the publication of the Social Mobility Commission’s (SMC) important report and the work that Dame Martina Milburn and her commissioners are doing to promote social mobility across the United Kingdom.We give careful consideration to the work of the SMC. However, in keeping with other SMC reports, we do not plan to publish a formal government response.Professions like law, politics and journalism have been dominated by independently schooled people. By making sure that our state schools offer a comparable education to private schools, we will drive down these inequalities.The gap between state funded schools and independent schools has never been smaller. 85% of state funded schools are now rated good or outstanding, compared to 66 % in 2010. Academies across the country, like Brampton Manor in East London, are rivalling the results of prestigious private schools.A range of reforms focusing on strengthening state education has driven this. Phonics is helping early literacy; more pupils leave primary school meeting the expected standards in maths and English and our reformed GCSEs make sure 16-year-olds have the knowledge parents expect.

Medicine: Education

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people are studying medicine as a second degree; and what proportion of those students did not apply for study grants or financial support for their first degree.

Chris Skidmore: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled in higher education. HESA categorise subjects using the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). More information on JACS codes can be found on the HESA website here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.Latest available data show that 6,680 full-person-equivalents[1] entered full-time first degrees in the subjects A1) Pre-Clinical Medicine and A3) Clinical Medicine at English Higher Education Institutions in the academic year 2017/18. Of these, 1,390 (21%) held a highest qualification on entry of first degree or higher.The department does not hold information on the grants or financial support applied for by these students during their different study instances.  [1] Counts are based on full-person-equivalents; where a student is studying more than one subject they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.

Apprentices: Free School Meals

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of apprenticeship starters were eligible for free school meals in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England in each quarter of each academic year since 2014.

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of apprenticeship starts that were eligible for free school meals started (a) intermediate, (b) advanced and (c) higher apprenticeships in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) the North West and (iii) England in the first quarter of the academic year (A) 2018-19, (B) 2017-18, (C) 2016-17, (D) 2015-16 and (E) 2014-15.

Anne Milton: Information on the proportion of apprenticeship starters who were eligible for free school meals is not held in the format requested.The department publishes data on apprenticeship starts with various breakdowns by level, local authority and parliamentary constituency in the apprenticeships geography and sector subject area tool in the apprenticeships data library. A link is attached:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.

Higher Education: Free School Meals

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of people entering higher education by age 19 in (a) 2018-19 and (b) each of the last five academic years were eligible for free school meals in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) the North West and (iii) England.

Chris Skidmore: The department publishes information at a national level on the proportion of students who entered higher education by age 19 who were eligible for free school meals at age 15 in state-funded and special schools. The latest figures for England can be found in Table 1 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/757901/WP2018-MainTables.xlsx. Figures are not available at regional or parliamentary constituency level.

Apprentices: North West

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many businesses in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West hired apprentices in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: The most recent statistics on the total number of businesses with apprenticeship starts for the academic years 2012/13 to 2016/17 are published on GOV.UK and are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/750709/apprenticeship_starts_tables.xlsx.Data on the number of businesses with apprenticeship starts at a national level is provided in table 8A. We do not provide regional or constituency breakdowns of this data.

Pupils: Sanitary Protection

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy for his Department to procure only plastic free period products for schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is committed to encouraging the use of sustainable products where possible. The Invitation to Tender for the Period Products scheme in England has set out that the provision must include environmentally friendly sanitary pads as a minimum requirement. In addition, bidders are encouraged to provide further sustainable products and consider the environment in packaging, delivery and other ways over and above the products themselves.We are committed to keeping this subject under review and we will continue to seek opportunities to encourage the use of sustainable products as the scheme develops, for example through guidance to schools and 16-19 institutions. In addition we will actively monitor product take up through the course of the contract.

Higher Education: Admissions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time first degree undergraduates his Department estimates will be studying in higher education institutions in England in (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22, (iv) 2022-23 and (v) 2023-24.

Chris Skidmore: The Department for Education does not forecast the total number of full-time and part-time first-degree undergraduates studying in higher education institutions (HEIs) in England from 2019/20 to 2023/24. However, the department does publish forecasts for number of loan borrowers and entrants for full-time and part-time undergraduates who are English domiciled and attend UK HEIs, and who are EU domiciled and attend higher education institutions in England. The latest forecast figures are publicly available in the Student loan forecasts, England: 2018 to 2019 available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loan-forecasts-england-2018-to-2019. The table below summarises the published figures. Student entrants 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24Full-time[1]397,000390,000390,000394,000399,000Part-time[2]120,000125,000135,000135,000135,000Total loan borrowers[3] Full-time Fee loans1,110,0001,110,0001,115,0001,115,0001,125,000Maintenance loans1,025,0001,025,0001,025,0001,025,0001,035,000Part-time Fee loans95,000105,000125,000135,000140,000Maintenance loans45,00080,000105,000125,000135,000 [1] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000 students and include undergraduates to HEIs only.[2] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5,000 students and include undergraduates to HEIs only.[3] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5,000 students and include undergraduates to HEIs and alternative providers, as well as PGCE students. Borrowers receiving both tuition fee and maintenance loans for their courses are included in both.

Sure Start Programme

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will increase funding for Sure Start in the next Budget.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure there are sufficient Sure Start children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. Funding for children’s services (including children’s centres) is made available through the local government finance settlement. In addition, other government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres. Children’s services funding for 2020-21 and beyond will be determined in the Spending Review.

Physical Education: GCE A-level and GCSE

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in London studied physical education to (a) GCSE and (b) A level in each year since 2012.

Nadhim Zahawi: The table below shows the number of pupils at the end of key stage 4[1] entered into GCSE physical education (PE) in London, and the number of A level entries in PE by 16 to 18-year-olds in London, 2011/12 to 2017/18. London2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18Pupils entered into GCSE PE10,25111,19711,96313,08112,27412,50910,516PE A level 16 to 18-year-olds entries1,2391,0651,0391,009919775880 The number of pupils that studied PE at key stage 4 is not available, but the number of pupils that entered a GCSE exam in PE has been provided as a proxy. For A levels, the figures provided relate to the number of PE exam entries.  [1] Pupils are identified as being at the end of key stage 4 if they were on roll at the school and in year 11 at the time of the January school census for that year. Age is calculated as at 31 August for that year, and the majority of pupils at the end of key stage 4 were age 15 at the start of the academic year. Some pupils may complete this key stage in an earlier or later year group.

Teachers: Training

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools are allocated to each of the teaching school alliance hubs.

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department used to decide the regions that are pilots for the new teaching school alliance hubs; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The areas for the test and learn phase for teaching school hubs were chosen to test a variety of areas, for example, rural, coastal, urban or areas of high deprivation. This was done to test how the teaching school hub model will work in different contexts, prior to a decision being made about national roll out. There is one test and learn area in each regional schools commissioner region. In most cases, the area defined will cover whole local authority districts, aggregating to cover 200 to 300 schools.The Department has published a prospectus which includes the names of the local authority districts in each region covered by the initiative. The prospectus can be found here:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/98dde964-ac94-410c-8254-1cd573c2dc45.As the Department will be funding a maximum of only one hub in each region, it will be for the successful applicants to define the areas in which they operate. The Department will, however, expect hubs to serve all the state schools in their chosen areas.The deadline for applications is Friday 26 July and it is not until after this date that it will be possible to determine the exact areas covered.

Wakefield City Academies Trust: Deloitte and Touche

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2019 to Question 262315 on Wakefield City Academies Trust: Deloitte and Touche, what services were provided by Deloitte LLP under its contract in relation to the closure of Wakefield City Academies Trust.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has worked closely with the Wakefield City Academies Trust board to ensure all 21 schools transferred smoothly to the new trusts, to minimise disruption for pupils. This included securing additional specialist capacity from Deloitte LLP to undertake a financial review of all 21 schools, provide assurance on the Trust’s financial position, and advise on options to support the closure of the Trust.The contract between the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Deloitte LLP, which includes the full scope of the services, is published on Contracts Finder, which is available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/d85bc16e-739c-4191-80ba-60fbee8d56ae?p=@FQxUlRRPT0=NjJNT08=U.

Refugees: Children and Young People

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department provides to local councils to ensure that young refugees are protected by an adequate level of safeguarding.

Nadhim Zahawi: Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities are required to provide services for children in their local areas for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting their welfare, this includes children who are refugees. 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' (2018) clarifies the core legal requirements for how agencies work together to keep children safe, including responding to their needs. Some children arrive in the country as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, local authorities are under a statutory obligation to provide accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. This means that they become looked-after children and receive the same safeguards and services as any other looked-after child.The government recognises that unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children can be some of the most vulnerable in our society. The government’s vision and additional commitment to care for these children is set out in the ‘Safeguarding Strategy for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking and Refugee Children’. The government has also published statutory guidance on the ‘Care of Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Child Victims of Modern Slavery’ to help local authorities to care effectively for these children.

Education: Judaism

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) children and (b) schools have covered the Battle of Cable Street at Key Stage 3 in the 2018-19 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally. The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world. Schools and teachers themselves can determine which examples and topics to use to stimulate and challenge pupils and reflect key points in history. Additionally, there is scope within the citizenship curriculum to highlight relevant key historical events. A high-quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. The Department expects schools to go beyond the core knowledge set out in the shorter programmes of study to deliver other aspects of citizenship. Schools themselves are best placed to determine the most effective way of including these challenges within the school curriculum.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has spent or plans to spend on converting schools to academies in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21, (e) 2021-22, (f) 2022-23 and (g) 2023-24.

Nadhim Zahawi: Between 2017-18 and the end of May 2019, the department has spent £69 million on pre-opening start-up grants to support local authority schools to convert to become academies. This includes the conversion of failing local authority schools to become sponsored academies in order to improve pupil outcomes. In addition, further capital costs are incurred for some cases where the fabric of school buildings has not been sufficiently well maintained.Further details can be found in in the table below:Financial YearSpend 2017-18£38 million2018-19£30 million2019-20 (as at end of May 2019)£1 millionTotal£69 millionFuture years’ spending plans have yet to be determined and will form part of the next Spending Review.Academy status leads to a more dynamic and responsive education system by allowing schools to make decisions based on local need and the interests of their pupils.My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is required by legislation to intervene in underperforming maintained schools rated inadequate by Ofsted and to issue an academy order for the school to become a sponsored academy. Recent research found that sponsored academies, particularly those open longest, have made substantial gains in performance in comparison with similar non-academy schools. The latest figures show that over 7 out of 10 sponsored academies are good or outstanding, replacing schools that were mostly underperforming. 85% of children are now in good or outstanding schools, compared to just 66% in 2010, and this is in part down to our reforms.Where academies choose to come together in academy trusts, they can take advantage of economies of scale and drive down the costs of procurement and so are able to invest more in teaching. By working in partnership with each other, schools can benefit from sharing staff, curriculum expertise and effective pedagogy.

Department for Education: Public Expenditure

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267289, which programmes have been funded within the budget lines provided in that Answer; and how much funding has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent by each programme.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department holds data on pupil absence in primary schools in England which is cross-tabulated by school week, year group and reason for absence.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold absence data by school week. Absence data by year group and reason is available in the National Statistics release ‘Pupil absence in schools in England 2017 to 2018’, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-2017-to-2018.In the underlying data, the file ‘Absence_3term_201718_national_characteristics.csv’ has data for primary schools by national curriculum year group and reason. The data in this file can be filtered by the columns ‘Year’, ‘School Type’ and ‘Characteristics’.

Teachers: Absenteeism

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department holds data on teacher sickness absence in primary schools in England in each school week.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not available in the format requested.Information on the number and rates of teacher sickness absence is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce.Table 16 provides a national time series and there are also regional, local authority and school level tables.

Leader of the House

Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Leader of the House, what discussions he has had with the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund on the (a) financial and (b) practical feasibility of divesting its funds from (i) fossil fuel and (ii) carbon-intensive industries.

Mel Stride: The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) is a separate entity with its own trustees. The Leader of the House has no role in the administration or investment management of the fund and I have therefore had no discussions with the PCPF’s trustees.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to introduce tougher sentences for animal cruelty.

David Rutley: I am pleased to report that the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 26 June. The Bill, when passed, will increase the maximum penalty for animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 from 6 months’ imprisonment to 5 years’ imprisonment.

Climate Change

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle anthropogenic climate change and global warming.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The government introduced legislation for a new net-zero emissions target for 2050, which was passed by Parliament last month. Defra works closely with the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the natural resources sector, including agriculture, forestry, land-use, waste and resources, and fluorinated gases, as set out in the Clean Growth Strategy. The UK was the first country in the EU to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which will through reducing the use of hydrofluorocarbon greenhouse gases lead to a reduction of emissions by 85% by 2036.  We support nature-based solutions through our international aid programmes on forestry and mangroves/blue forests that act as effective carbon sinks as well as provide for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. We will publish the England Peat Strategy to protect existing carbon stores and as part of this we are establishing a Lowland Agricultural Peat Taskforce to develop a more sustainable future for agriculture on lowland peatland in England. Following on from our Resources and Waste Strategy, we are consulting on food waste collection schemes which will divert food waste from landfill. As the cornerstone of new agricultural policy, the new Environmental Land Management Scheme will pay public money for the provision of environmental public goods, such as the mitigation of and adaption to climate change. This year, we will start developing a new emissions reduction plan for agriculture, in which we will set out our long-term vision for a more productive, low-carbon farming sector.  The action we are taking will continue our tradition in climate leadership.

Agriculture: Plastics

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the effect of plasticulture on the environment; and what support his Department is giving to farmers to tackle plastic waste within their businesses.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter and the answer applies to England only.Our Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December last year, builds on commitments in our 25 Year Environment Plan and sets out plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. This is a seismic shift – it is not just about single use plastics, for example, but about all plastics, including those used in agriculture.Plastics are used on farms for a number of reasons. Wrapping hay and silage bales, transporting feed and fertiliser, and insulating and protecting soil and horticultural crops, for example. The materials used are mostly recyclable, however attempts to collect it for recycling have often been unsuccessful, due to high levels of contamination making the recycling process uneconomic. The Government recognises the issues caused by inappropriate disposal of agricultural plastic, and we are working with the Environment Agency and the Waste and Resources Action Programme to explore how Government policy can address them.Plastics used in agriculture are ultimately a small proportion of the total volume of plastics used, and the Government is taking a prioritised approach to tackling the overarching problem of plastic pollution. Earlier this year we published consultations on a number of key policy measures to significantly change the way that we manage our waste and to reduce the impacts of plastic on the environment: reforming existing packaging waste regulations; exploring the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers; and increasing consistency in the recycling system, along with a parallel consultation on the plastic packaging tax that the Chancellor announced in the Budget last year. We will publish the Government responses to these consultations on the GOV.UK website in due course.

Tree Planting

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how long will it take for planted trees to have a benefit on the environment.

David Rutley: There are immediate environmental benefits from planting trees for new woodland creation; these increase over time and as the woodland develops and matures. For example, the change of land use means that some public benefits such as water quality improvement are achieved immediately. Within the first 5 years benefits to soil infiltration (for flood risk management) and biodiversity can be seen, with different species benefiting as the woodland becomes established. Carbon sequestration, the contribution of evapotranspiration to flood risk management and landscape enhancement generally give greatest benefit to the environment at canopy closure and beyond, 10-25 years after planting.

Air Pollution

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in England are living in an area with an illegal level of air pollution.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK meets legal limits for concentrations of all air pollutants, with the exception of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Calculating peoples’ annual NO2 exposure is not straightforward, because an individual’s exposure varies as they move about their daily life. The Government therefore does not hold estimates of the number of people exposed to NO2 levels above legal limits. The vast majority of exceedances of the NO2 limits occur at roadside locations within ten metres of the kerb. We are working with a number of local authorities to reduce roadside NO2 concentrations, and our latest modelling indicates that 9% of the road links assessed exceeded NO2 limits.

Recycling

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce waste to landfill and (b) increase waste to recycling.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is committed to increasing both the quantity and quality of waste materials that are recycled and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.The Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme was established to provide support to local authorities to help accelerate the building of infrastructure needed to treat residual waste and increase recycling, minimising waste going to landfill to help meet our landfill diversion targets, which we reached in 2013.One of the proposals in our recent consultation ‘Consistency in household and business recycling collections in England’ was for all collectors of waste to collect a core set of materials from households and businesses. We believe that this will improve the opportunity for householders to increase what they can recycle.We are analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish the Government’s response to it shortly.

Climate Change

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the UK is taking steps with the Government of China to promote natural climate solutions at the UN’s Climate and Biodiversity Summits in 2020, and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Yes. The Government is a world leader in calling for nature based solutions to be recognised as critical in addressing climate action. I met the Environment Minister for China at the G20 to discuss this and The Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties to be held in China next year. The UN Climate Action Summit this September provides a more immediate opportunity to deliver ambitious initiatives that tackle both climate change and biodiversity loss. The UK is co-leading the Resilience and Adaptation theme for the Summit and is actively engaging with other partners who are leading and developing the other themes. This includes China, who is co-leading the Nature Based Solutions theme for the Summit.

Peat

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the protection and restoration of peat moss in achieving net carbon neutrality for the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Recently published Government research identified that the emissions from UK peatlands range from 18.5 to 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. Peatland restoration is therefore a key way to mitigate emissions and will play an important role in achieving net carbon neutrality in the UK. We will publish an England Peat Strategy later this year which will set out our approach to protecting and restoring peat.

Animal Welfare: Inspections

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department provides to local authorities to ensure that those authorities have access to fully trained animal welfare inspectors to enforce the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

David Rutley: Local authorities are able to make decisions based on local needs and the arrangements that work best for them, and it is for local authorities to determine how to prioritise their resources. The Government is investing in Britain’s future, and this year’s local government finance settlement includes extra funding for local services. Local authorities will have access to £46.4 billion this financial year (2019/20) to meet the needs of their residents including for the protection of animal welfare. This is a cash increase of 2.8% and a real terms increase which will strengthen services and support to local communities. Local authorities can also ensure that they have fully trained inspectors to enforce the Animal Welfare Act 2006 through resources available to them to enforce The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. The 2018 Regulations give local authorities the power to charge a cost recovery fee to cover the cost of enforcement of the regulations including inspections of premises. The same officers appointed under the regulations are able to enforce the 2006 Act.

Rural Areas: Loneliness

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government Loneliness Strategy, what progress his department has made on convening a rural stakeholder group to (a) advise and support the work of Government Departments and (b) help support the communication of initiatives and good practice at a local level.

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Loneliness Strategy, what steps his Department is taking with the Loneliness Action Group to (a) share learning on loneliness and (b) ensure the effective implementation of that strategy.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Government has engaged closely with the Loneliness Action Group in the development of, and now implementation of, its loneliness strategy. Defra officials have engaged with the quarterly Loneliness Action Group meetings, to share updates and hear the group's views. The Minister for Sport and Civil Society, who leads Government's work on loneliness, spoke at the Loneliness Action Group conference in May 2019. The Government is committed to tackling loneliness in rural areas. Last year the Minister for Rural Affairs co-hosted a roundtable on rural loneliness with the Minister for Loneliness. We share learning and ensure effective implementation via stakeholder engagement. A rural stakeholder forum, a commitment in the Government’s loneliness strategy, was held earlier this year, co-hosted by Defra and Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). This was an opportunity for Government to listen to the challenges faced by rural communities trying to tackle loneliness and for attendees to share good practice. A further forum will be held in the autumn. The Minister for Rural Affairs held a smaller, more focused forum earlier this month. These events are part of ongoing conversations between Government and stakeholders on this important issue.

Air Pollution

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure co-operation with the EU on tackling air pollution after the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK remains a signatory to the 1979 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, and will continue to be at the forefront of international action and cooperation to tackle transboundary air pollution alongside the EU.

Air Pollution

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to promote cross-departmental collaboration on adopting World Health Organisation standards for fine particulate matter.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Clean Air Strategy sets out our commitments to take bold action across all parts of Government to achieve reductions in air pollution. We are committed to the setting of an ambitious long term target to reduce population exposure to PM2.5. Defra continues to work closely with other Government departments and agencies to deliver the Strategy.

Southern Water

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the findings of OFWAT's recent investigation into whether Southern Water breached its statutory duties and licence obligations, what assessment he has made of the safety of the water supply in Southern Water supplied areas.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Ofwat’s recent investigation related to the release of wastewater to the environment. Drinking water supplied by Southern Water is safe for consumers. Water companies are required to provide safe, wholesome drinking water. The Drinking Water Inspectorate scrutinises the results of treated water sampling by companies in England and Wales. This amounts to over 4 million sample results, over 230,000 of which are provided by Southern Water. Water companies are required to take action when there are issues to be addressed. In the event of short term operational issues affecting supplies, there are well practiced procedures in place for protection of consumers. Companies are also required to rectify issues requiring medium to long term mitigation. Where the Inspectorate is not satisfied with a company’s response, it will take enforcement actions which range from making suggestions and recommendations through to criminal prosecutions. The Environment Agency is responsible for reporting on the quality of water in the environment.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of veterinary research funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board on the welfare of horses since 2000.

David Rutley: The Government considers that veterinary research is vital to improving the lives of all horses. The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) is a non-departmental public body which was established to administer the Horserace Betting Levy, under which betting operators pay 10% of their profits on British racing back to support the sport. One of the statutory objectives of the HBLB is focused on the advancement or encouragement of veterinary science or veterinary education. To this end, the HBLB have invested over £35 million since 2000 in veterinary research and education, which I understand supports the welfare of all equines in Great Britain as well as thoroughbreds. Specific projects undertaken include the development of a novel technique for assessing and improving respiratory performance in racehorses. The Government welcomes these initiatives and acknowledges the importance of continued veterinary research to the welfare of horses.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Horse Welfare Board in improving the standards of welfare in horseracing.

David Rutley: The Government is keen that the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards. On 14 May, I met the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) as well as the new independent Chair of the BHA’s newly appointed Horse Welfare Board. This Board was formed in March 2019 and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare specialists. This was a constructive meeting where the number of fatalities of racehorses was acknowledged and both sides agreed that further action is required to tackle avoidable harm and make the sport safer. The Board committed to doing all it can to improve welfare outcomes and is working on producing an equine welfare manifesto, outlining the industry’s priorities in this area. I stressed the need for the BHA to develop a robust action plan that will deliver tangible results, and will continue to stay in regular contact with both the BHA and the newly appointed Horse Welfare Board to monitor progress of key actions and to press for further improvements in racehorse welfare.

Horse Racing: Equine Flu

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) the Animal Plant and Health Agency have made of the effectiveness of the measures taken by the British Horseracing Authority in countering and containing the ongoing outbreak of equine influenza in the UK.

David Rutley: Equine influenza is not a notifiable disease in the UK, which means that the industry takes responsibility for controlling the disease. Vaccination is the main control measure, alongside isolation of infected cases and minimising the mixing of horses during an outbreak. The Government has been monitoring the situation and maintaining close contact with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the Animal Health Trust (AHT) and the British Horse Council. We commend the BHA and other equine industry bodies for their swift action and for advising against unvaccinated animals being allowed to attend large gatherings.

Plastics: Waste

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the quantity of UK plastic waste that has been returned from countries overseas; what steps he is taking to dispose of that waste; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Waste management is a devolved matter and the figures provided here for plastic waste returned in the years 2016 to 2018 relate to England only. The tonnages of returned waste shown in the table below are derived from requests made by regulators in other countries to the Environment Agency. When these instances occur the Environment Agency requires the exporter of the waste to make arrangements to bring it back. It is also the responsibility of the exporter to arrange for the returned waste to be dealt with in accordance with the waste hierarchy and in compliance with UK waste legislation. Information on the corresponding annual tonnage and value of UK plastic waste exports are provided for the purpose of context. YearPlastic waste exported from UK, kilotonnes1Value of plastic waste exports from UK, £m2Plastic waste returned to England, kilotonnes32016789.9158.20.032017660.7138.74.192018611.9107.51.36 Sources:1 and 2: HMRC customs data3: Environment Agency

Schools: Energy

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has with Cabinet colleagues on requiring schools to be energy independent.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions on this subject. Energy policy is the responsibility of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Department for Exiting the European Union

NHS

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social and Care on the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement on the NHS.

Kwasi Kwarteng: DExEU Ministers and officials have regular discussions with their counterparts in the Department of Health and Social Care.The safety of everyone who uses the NHS health or care services remains a priority, and we are confident that the NHS is prepared for all scenarios.

Brexit

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals before the summer recess to maintain the rights of EU citizens living in the UK; and what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on maintaining the rights of  UK citizens rights in the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government has always been clear and steadfast in our commitment to protecting citizens' rights. The Government is already implementing its offer to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK and the EU Settlement Scheme opened fully on 30 March and to date, over 800,000 citizens have made an application.The EU Settlement Scheme, has been implemented by the changes to Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules, which are made under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971. These legislative measures are consistent with the Government’s commitment that in any scenario, EU citizens resident in the UK by exit day will be able to stay and continue living their lives broadly as they do now.On 27 February, the House supported an amendment tabled by Alberto Costa MP to seek a joint UK-EU commitment to adopt Part II of the Withdrawal Agreement whatever the outcome of negotiations. The Government has since written to Michel Barnier twice on this matter. On 21 June Michel Barnier responded to the Secretary of State’s most recent letter of 17 June and we are carefully considering our response.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent steps he has taken with the European Commission to ensure that there is not a hard border on the island of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mr Robin Walker: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has regularly met with the EU Commission to discuss preparations for leaving the EU.The Government has been clear that the unique social, political and economic circumstances of Northern Ireland must be reflected in any arrangements that apply in a no deal scenario. We are absolutely committed to upholding the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, and would do everything possible to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.In a no deal scenario, the UK Government is committed to entering into discussions urgently with the European Commission and the Irish Government to jointly agree long-term measures to avoid a hard border and to limit the impact of a no deal exit on life on the island of Ireland.We have confirmed a unilateral approach to checks, processes and tariffs to do all we can to avoid a hard border. The UK Government would not introduce any new checks or controls on goods crossing from Ireland to Northern Ireland, including any new customs declarations for nearly all goods.The UK temporary tariff regime would therefore not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland.We would need to apply a small number of measures strictly necessary to comply with international legal obligations, protect the biosecurity of the island of Ireland, or to avoid the highest risks to Northern Ireland businesses - but these measures would not require checks at the border.

Wales Office

Public Expenditure: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to the funding package announced for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, what assessment he has made of the Barnett consequential for Wales.

Alun Cairns: The UK Government contribution to the 2022 Commonwealth Games budget is subject to the Barnett Formula which HM Treasury will apply in the normal way at the Spending Review, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

Ministry of Justice

Probation: Disciplinary Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers were placed under investigation for (a) less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months, (d) between six and 12 months and (e) over 12 months for alleged (i) misconduct and (ii) gross misconduct in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: Table 1a - Number of Probation Officers1,2 (headcount) subject to Conduct and Discipline investigations due to Misconduct, by length of investigation3, 2015/16 to 2017/18  2015/162016/172017/18Less than one month486From one up to three months444From three up to six months0~~From six up to twelve months000Over 12 months0~0Table 1b - Number of Probation Officers1,2 (headcount) subject to Conduct and Discipline investigations due to Gross Misconduct, by length of investigation3, 2015/16 to 2017/18 2015/162016/172017/18Less than one month0~~From one up to three months94~From three up to six months~0~From six up to twelve months0~0Over 12 months000Notes: 1. Qualified band 4 probation officers only. Figures exclude Senior Probation Officers. 2. Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year.Staff with no end date in the data, indicating open cases, have been excluded.'~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.  Investigations follow the conduct and discipline policy, which ensures that they are carried out fairly, and are also robust. Investigations may involve multiple charges and may have multiple outcomes for different parts of the case.Investigations into staff conduct are designed to establish the truth of the case and to determine whether conduct and discipline action is recommended.

Probation: Disciplinary Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of disciplinary cases in which probation officers were placed under investigation for (a) less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months, (d) between six and twelve months and (e) over twelve months resulted in proceedings for (i) misconduct and (ii) gross misconduct in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: Table 1a: Proportion of Conduct and Discipline cases1, involving Probation Officers2, which progressed to misconduct proceedings, by length of investigation3, 2015/16 to 2017/18  2015/162016/172017/18Less than one month100%80%75%From one up to three months29%50%67%From three up to six months0%100%50%From six up to twelve months-0%-Over 12 months-100%-Table 1b: Proportion of Conduct and Discipline cases1, involving Probation Officers3, which progressed to gross misconduct proceedings, by length of investigation3, 2015/16 to 2017/18 2015/162016/172017/18Less than one month0%20%25%From one up to three months64%50%33%From three up to six months100%0%50%From six up to twelve months-100%-Over 12 months-0%-Notes: 1. A case is defined as a unique combination of case and individual member of staff. Where more than one member of staff is involved in a single case these are counted separately in this table. Equally staff involved in more than one case during the year are counted multiple times. 2. Qualified band 4 probation officers only. Figures exclude Senior Probation OfficersStaff with no end date in the data, indicating open cases, have been excluded‘-‘ Indicates there were no cases.  Investigations follow the conduct and discipline policy, which ensures that they are carried out fairly, and are also robust.Investigations into staff conduct are designed to establish the truth of the case and to determine whether conduct and discipline action is recommended. An investigation may result in no case to answer, and would not result in a penalty. Where there is a case to answer a conduct and discipline case imposes a penalty on a member of staff for wrong-doing if the allegation is found proven.

Probation: Disciplinary Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers have been suspended for (a) less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months, (d) between six and 12 months and (e) more than 12 months due to alleged (i) misconduct and (ii) gross misconduct in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: We are unable to provide an answer. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)’s central records on suspensions is held as a dataset separate to its conduct and discipline dataset which records misconduct allegation as well as outcomes. We are unable to provide end to end information regarding cases where a suspension has led to a conduct and discipline investigation as the dataset on suspensions does not hold case reference numbers which, in this case, is essential for the data matching to take place.

Probation: Disciplinary Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of alleged (a) misconduct and (b) gross misconduct by probation officers that reached proceedings were (i) not proven, (ii) resolved by the issuing of management advice, (iii) resolved with a written warning and (iv) concluded with dismissal in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: Table 1: Conduct & discipline cases1 for misconduct and gross misconduct by probation officers2, by outcome3, 2015/16 to 2017/18  2015/162016/172017/18MisconductNot been proven0~~ Management advice & guidance000 Written warning5109 Dismissal000 Other outcomes43~~Gross MisconductNot been proven000 Management advice & guidance000 Written warning63~ Dismissal443 Other outcomes4~~~Notes:1. A case is defined as a unique combination of case and individual member of staff. Where more than one member of staff is involved in a single case these are counted separately in this table. Equally staff involved in more than one case during the year are counted multiple times.2. Qualified band 4 probation officers only. Figures exclude Senior Probation Officers.3. Information on the outcomes of any appeal is not included.4. Includes where cases have been withdrawn/closed or where other disciplinary action was taken, such as financial penalties, regrades/downgrades, verbal warnings. '~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. Conduct and discipline cases provide a range of options for dealing with staff employed who fail to meet the required standards of behaviour.Both investigations and conduct cases may involve multiple charges and may have multiple outcomes for the different parts of the case. Dismissals are appropriate in cases of gross misconduct where any further relationship and trust between HMPPS and the member of staff concerned is impossible

Probation: Disciplinary Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of alleged (a) misconduct and (b) gross misconduct by probation officers that led to proceedings following an investigation lasting more than 12 months were (i) not proven, (ii) resolved by management advice being issued, (iii) concluded with a written warning and (iv) concluded with dismissal in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: There were fewer than three Conduct and Discipline cases of misconduct/gross misconduct by band 4 probation officers which lasted longer than 12 months, in each of the last three years. Due to the low numbers involved, details on the outcome of the cases cannot be provided. This is to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.

Probation: Disciplinary Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of alleged (a) misconduct and (b) gross misconduct by probation officers that led to proceedings following a suspension lasting for more than 12 months have (i) not been proven, (ii) led to management advice being issued, (iii) led to a written warning and (iv) led to dismissal in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: We are unable to provide an answer. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)’s central records on suspensions are held as a dataset separate to its conduct and discipline dataset which records misconduct allegation as well as outcomes. We are unable to provide end to end information regarding cases where a suspension has led to a conduct and discipline investigation as the dataset on suspensions does not hold case reference numbers which, in this case, is essential for the data matching to take place.

Probation: Pay

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of wages paid to suspended probation officers under investigation in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: We are unable to provide an answer. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)’s central records on suspensions is held as a dataset separate to its conduct and discipline dataset which records misconduct allegation as well as outcomes. We are unable to provide end to end information regarding cases where a suspension has led to a conduct and discipline investigation as the dataset on suspensions does not hold case reference numbers which, in this case, is essential for the data matching to take place.

Legal Aid Scheme: Terrorism

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department uses to determine the allocation of legal aid; and how his Department assesses the claims of families of victims of terrorist attacks against that criteria.

Paul Maynard: All individual case funding decisions are taken by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). It is important that these decisions are, and are seen to be, free from political and Government influence. Legal aid can be provided, if the matter or issue in question is within scope of the legal aid scheme, as defined in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). Legal aid is available for advice and assistance for all inquests, subject to a means and merits test. Legal aid funding for legal representation for a family, during an inquest hearing, is not in scope of LASPO. The Government recognises that for certain inquests, bereaved people may require representation; legal aid may therefore be available, through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, if certain criteria are met: (a) if a failure to provide such representation would breach, or likely risk a breach of, the government’s obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, usually Article 2; orwhere the Director of Legal Aid Casework (DLAC) makes a determination that there is a ‘wider public interest’ in legal representation being granted.

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made in the past year in combating the use of drones to supply illegal drugs to prisoners.

Robert Buckland: We are taking decisive steps to tackle the use of drones as a supply route for organised criminals to bring contraband, including drugs, into prisons. Prisons use netting and window grilles to stop drones from delivering contraband successfully. To deter criminals, HM Prison and Probation Service is also working closely with the police to arrest suspected drone operators and secure convictions. Thanks to such joint working, and following the largest investigation of its kind, an organised criminal gang of 15 were collectively sentenced in October 2018 to nearly 40 years in prison for using drones to deliver drugs into Merseyside prisons. The ringleader received a sentence of 10 years, the highest single sentence for drone-related activity to date. Where contraband gets into prisons using a drone, our counter-measures assist us to retrieve them and frustrate further criminal activity. In respect of drugs, our Drugs Taskforce is working with law enforcement to restrict supply. It has also developed a national Prison Drug Strategy which was published in April to reduce demand for drugs and build recovery, as well as restrict supply. We have also invested £70 million to improve safety, security and decency in prisons, allowing us to fund new X-ray body scanners, improved searching techniques, phone-blocking technology and a financial crime unit to target organised crime group members operating in prisons.

Prisoners: Compensation

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have received compensation for being assaulted by a fellow prisoner in each of the last three years, and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: YearNumber of prisoners who have received damages for a prisoner on prisoner assault claim2016/17422017/18482018/19Figure unavailable as 2018/19 litigation data is still being verified. The figures in the table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Violence in prisons remains unacceptably high but there are early signs that we are making progress. Eight of the jails involved in the ‘10 Prisons Project’ saw falls in the final quarter of 2018 – four of them by more than 25% - while the number of assaults across the estate reduced by 11%. Across the prison estate we have invested an additional £70m in a raft of measures designed to improve safety, security and decency - including body-scanners, enhanced searches and new investigative teams - while the 4,700 additional staff we have recruited since October 2016 are making a real difference. There are no plans for a further statement at this time.

Prisons: Gates

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons contain an electronic gate with at least one safety feature disengaged; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: The information requested is not held centrally. Last year, all automated gates across the prison estate were inspected and serviced to ensure that they were in good working order. Following those inspections, each gate was left with the relevant safety features working properly. Our maintenance providers are instructed to test the operation of all such gates at least once a month, including the relevant safety features. We will continue to monitor their work closely to ensure that the maintenance of gates does not fall short of the standard required.

Court Orders

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) non-molestation orders, (b) occupation orders and (c) injunctions were granted in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: This information is already in the public domain, as the Ministry of Justice publishes family court statistics on a quarterly basis. The latest report, published on 27th June, includes information on the number of non-molestation and occupation orders that have been made by the family courts since 2003. The latest report is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2019.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Enforcement

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what level of charges Approved Enforcement Agencies may add to original financial penalties imposed by criminal courts, and whether his Department has plans to change that level.

Paul Maynard: The level of fees that an Enforcement agent may levy is set out in The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, SI 2014 No1 Compliance Stage - £75.00The Compliance fee is levied for correspondence to the Debtor from the Approved Enforcement Agency. The amount levied does not change dependent on amount owed and is only payable once.Enforcement Fee - £235.00This fee is levied for a visit to the Debtor following on from the compliance process and is also only payable once. An additional 7.5% of the value of the debt is payable in cases where the original debt exceeds £1,500Sale or Disposal Fee - £110.00This fee is levied for the sale or disposal of goods if the original debt is not settled in full or if a proposal for a repayment plan is not offered. This fee is also only payable once. An additional 7.5% of the value of the debt is payable in cases where the original debt exceeds £1,500. Approved Enforcement Agencies can also charge for the reasonable cost of storing goods, hiring a locksmith, court fees, auction costs, exceptional costs. These charges only apply to actual cost. There are no plans to change the level of fees, which are set out in secondary legislation, at the current time.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Enforcement

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the level of charges added by Approved Enforcement Agencies to the original financial penalties imposed by criminal courts in each of the last four quarters.

Paul Maynard: Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) does not collate this information at a quarterly level. Data received from Approved Enforcement Agencies indicates that they recovered £28,169,343.39 in fees from Warrants of Control over the period 1st April 2018 – 31st March 2019. The fee, which varies for different processes is paid by the debtor direct to the AEA on top of their original fine. The level of fees that an Enforcement agent may levy are set out in The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, SI 2014 No1 to ensure transparency and consistency. We take the recovery and enforcement of court fines very seriously. Courts already have the power to issue warrants through enforcement agencies, and we have robust processes in place to ensure enforcement agents comply to the same standards as HMCTS staff.

Television: Licensing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Minister for Justice, what support he plans to provide to the courts service to deal with the potential increase in non-payment prosecution for TV licences by vulnerable defendants over the age of 75 who do not pay for a TV licence from June 2020.

Robert Buckland: TV Licensing prosecutions are dealt with via the Single Justice Procedure, which was introduced in 2015 to allow for more efficient resolution of low-level, summary only-non imprisonable offences in which the offender pleads guilty or does not respond. HMCTS has not made any specific arrangements for any potential increase in non-payment prosecutions for TV licences from June 2020. If required, to meet any emerging demand HMCTS will deploy its planning and allocation processes which allow for resource adjustment or reallocation.

Television: Licensing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Minister for Justice, whether he has made an estimate of the potential increase in the number of prosecutions there will be of people over 75 who have not paid for a TV licence from June 2020.

Robert Buckland: The lead department on TV licencing is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DDCMS). The responsibility for TV licence fee concessions will pass from government to the BBC in June 2020, at which time the BBC has taken the decision to end free TV licences for all over 75s. The Ministry of Justice has reviewed prosecution data between 1992 and 1999 for TV licence fee evasion, prior to the introduction of the concession, and established that there were no prosecutions of defendants over the age of 75 during this period.

Treatment of, and Outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Individuals in the Criminal Justice System Independent Review

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the status is of the Government's response to each recommendation in the Lammy Review.

Edward Argar: The Government is taking forward every recommendation of the Lammy Review in some way – where a recommendation could not be implemented in full or exactly as set out, alternative approaches have been sought to achieve the same aim. The Government published its response to the Lammy Review in December 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lammy-review-government-response We provided a public update on progress against each of the 35 recommendations of the Lammy Review in November 2018 in the “Tackling racial disparity in the Criminal Justice System” update: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-racial-disparity-in-the-criminal-justice-system-2018 We are committed to publishing a further full public update against each recommendation of the Lammy Review, along with work above and beyond this to tackle racial disparity in the criminal justice system, before the end of 2019.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 265568 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff, if he will publish the information by staff band.

Paul Maynard: The number of agency staff in HMCTS was 2,737 as of March 2018, which was 14.6%. The earliest held comparable data is from 2016 and shows 1,569, which was 8.5% of the staffing numbers. This shows an increase of 1,168, 6.1 percentage points, over this period. The following table shows a breakdown by grade as requested.Mar-16Employee typeAgencyAgency proportionSCS00.0%Band A00.0%Band B00.0%Band C70.9%Band D190.7%Band E124712.2%Band F29610.5%Total1,5698.5%  Mar-18Employee typeAgencyAgency proportionSCS00.0%Band A00.0%Band B20.1%Band C70.8%Band D321.2%Band E238022.1%Band F31612.8%Total2,73714.6% We were unable to provide data from 2010 as HMCTS did not exist in its current form until 2011. Prior to this there were multiple business units that held their own people data. We are unable to obtain agency data from HR systems prior to 2016. As with any large data system, there are also likely to be some inaccuracies. Over the period of Reform, we expect the shape and size of the organisation to change. As part of this we are reducing our staffing levels and expect the future skills of our people to change. The HMCTS workforce strategy during this period is to increase the capability of our staff, whilst simultaneously increasing our workforce flexibility through the increased usage of contingent labour. This is in order to reduce redundancy costs and protect the jobs of longer serving, permanent staff. The required staffing level needed across each of our HMCTS sites is monitored closely, and proactive recruitment undertaken to ensure these levels are maintained.

Courts: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2019 to Question 264468 on courts: staff, whether his Department holds data relating to the staff service length prior to 2011.

Paul Maynard: The Department does not hold data relating to the staff service length prior to 2011. We are unable to provide data on courts staff prior to 2011 as HMCTS did not exist in its current form until after this date. Prior to this there were multiple business units that held their own people data. Our figures only show the length of service of staff since HMCTS was formed as our HR data does not include the service of staff from before that time.

Young Offenders: Homelessness

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children were recorded as being of no fixed abode on arrival in custody in each custodial institution that holds children in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: While this information is collected at a young person’s point of entry into the youth custody system, the figures are not collated centrally. We could therefore only provide this figure at disproportionate cost. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 makes it the general duty of every local authorityto safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in needby providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. This includes the provision of accommodation where it is necessary to protect a child. Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 imposes a specific duty on local authorities to provide accommodation for any child in need in their area who appears to require it because there is no one with parental responsibility for them, they have been lost or abandoned, or the person caring for them is prevented (temporarily or otherwise) from providing suitable accommodation or care.

Prisoners: Homelessness

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were recorded as being of no fixed abode on arrival in custody in each custodial institution that holds women in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The number of women who were recorded as being of no fixed abode on arrival in custody for each year which data is available is shown below. Data prior to 2015 is not available. ESTABLISHMENT2015201620172018Bronzefield (HMP)33873610061021Drake Hall (HMP)3000Eastwood Park (HMP)323454531514Foston Hall (HMP)139161197297Holloway (HMP)3366000Low Newton (HMP)103100103173New Hall (HMP)176205231259Peterborough Female (HMP)205337492557Styal (HMP)286317330441 Everyone should have a safe and suitable home to live; having somewhere to live gives people a stable platform from which to access health services, hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them reoffending. In keeping with this the Government published its Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018, launching a £100 million initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England. Our reforms to probation are designed to encourage long-term rehabilitation and ultimately reduce reoffending – and the first step in this is ensuring that everyone leaving prison has access to secure and stable accommodation. We are improving support for offenders leaving prison with a £22 million investment in through-the-gate services which will help to strengthen ties with key partners, including the third sector, local authorities and the police. In addition, the Female Offender Strategy sets out our vision and plan to improve outcomes for women in the community and custody. We want to see fewer women coming into the criminal justice system, a greater proportion managed successfully in the community, and better conditions for those in custody.   NotesThese figures show the number of Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) Part 1 that were fully completed in each year 2015 – 2018 which indicated that the prisoner had entered custody from no fixed abode to prisons which hold women prisoners.  The Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) Part 1 is completed within 72 hours of a prisoner entering custody and the answers to the accommodation questions are entered as provided by the prisoner to the BCS screener. The BCS answers are not assessed.  Female establishments not shown in the above list did not complete BCS Part 1s in this time period.  HMP Holloway closed in 2016.  It is possible for prisons to manually create a BCS Part 1 where one hasn’t been previously fully completed and this may explain why HMP Drake Hall completed 3 in 2015. The BCS Part 1 went live on 01/01/2015 which is why we cannot produce this data for 2010 – 2014 inclusive. Data count includes with each of repeat admissions by an individual during the course of a year.

Probation: ICT

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) community rehabilitation companies and (b) the Probation Service on the use of algorithms in the probation system.

Robert Buckland: Algorithmic tools are used both by the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies to support decision making and aid professional judgement in assessing the level of risk posed by offenders. We have internal processes in place to ensure we develop and roll-out algorithmic models appropriately and responsibly and are working with The Alan Turing Institute to make sure the use of these models is ethical, safe and fair. These tools are one element of a number of measures for assessing the risk of re-offending: In all cases, the professional judgement of the offender manager is a key factor in deciding what measures are needed to manage an offender and prevent re-offending.

Probate

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information he holds on when probate will be granted in the case of Carol Rosalind Green who died on 24 September 2018; and if he will make an assessment of the effect the time taken to grant probate on the ability of the executors to complete the sale of the deceased person's property.

Robert Buckland: We are unable to locate the case without further details. If my Hon. Friend writes to me with details of the case, I will ask my officials to look into the matter.

Cabinet Office

Small Businesses: Procurement

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure UK SMEs are able to compete with global tech companies in G-Cloud procurement.

Oliver Dowden: Public sector procurers are required to seek value for money through fair and open competition and in line with our current international obligations.We want UK companies to be successful in public procurement, we also want to ensure that the barriers for SMEs to win public sector contracts are as low as possible.G-Cloud supports a thriving ecosystem of UK tech SMEs that have succeeded in winning business through the Digital Marketplace, with more than 90% of the 3505 G-Cloud 10 suppliers being SMEs. G-Cloud has a low barrier to entry for all suppliers, including SMEs and is refreshed on an annual basis with supplier evaluation based on a suppliers declaration against a number of key criteria. Therefore the majority of suppliers - providing they sell services which align to the scope of the agreement - are able to apply and be awarded a place on G-Cloud framework agreements.

Political Parties: Finance

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266672 on Political Parties: Finance, for what reason the Government considers Section 10 of the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 to be unworkable.

Kevin Foster: The Coalition Government took the decision not to implement the 2009 legislation, as it was not deemed to be workable, and the Conservative Government continues to hold this view.During the passage of the 2009 Act, the Electoral Commission raised concerns about the legislation (further to Official Report, 15 October 2009, Col. 998W), and in 2013, the Electoral Commission also flagged issues about the tax status declaration requirements. The Labour Government conceded that the provisions could not be commenced at that time “due to their complex nature” (as outlined in the answer of Official Report, 10 March 2010, Col. 5MC). An individual’s tax status is subject to confidentiality between them and HMRC. It may therefore be difficult or impossible for the political party and the Electoral Commission to accurately determine whether a donor meets the permissibility test set out section 10 in the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009.The Government also has a principled objection to the measures: The UK has a robust legal framework in place that bans foreign donations. There is a long-standing principle – as originally recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1998 – that permissible donors are those on the UK electoral register, and this includes UK citizens who are registered overseas electors. Companies wishing to make donations must be UK-registered and carrying on business in the UK. If a British citizen is able to vote in an election for a political party, they should also be able to donate to that political party, subject to the requirements for transparency on donations. Supporting a political party is part of the democratic process, and is an expression of freedom of association. Since the adoption of universal suffrage, taxation has never been the basis of enfranchisement in the UK. Those who do not pay income tax, such as those earning less than the tax-free personal allowance, rightly remain entitled to vote. Similarly, full-time students are legally exempt from paying council tax, but still have the right to vote in local elections. Notwithstanding, as I stated in my previous answer, the Government has announced it will consult on strengthening the current provisions which protect UK politics from foreign influence. The consultation may consider recommendations on tackling loopholes in relation to foreign spending in elections and donations from shell companies which are not properly operating in the UK. More broadly, since 2010, the Government has taken action to sanction and deter those involved in offshore evasion, including creating a new criminal offence for serious offshore evasion, and introducing penalties for those who deliberately help others to evade tax offshore. The Government has introduced over 100 new measures to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance.

Political Parties: Finance

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has received representations from the Electoral Commission on the workability of section 10 of the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009.

Kevin Foster: The Coalition Government took the decision not to implement the 2009 legislation, as it was not deemed to be workable, and the Conservative Government continues to hold this view.During the passage of the 2009 Act, the Electoral Commission raised concerns about the legislation (further to Official Report, 15 October 2009, Col. 998W), and in 2013, the Electoral Commission also flagged issues about the tax status declaration requirements. The Labour Government conceded that the provisions could not be commenced at that time “due to their complex nature” (as outlined in the answer of Official Report, 10 March 2010, Col. 5MC). An individual’s tax status is subject to confidentiality between them and HMRC. It may therefore be difficult or impossible for the political party and the Electoral Commission to accurately determine whether a donor meets the permissibility test set out section 10 in the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009.The Government also has a principled objection to the measures: The UK has a robust legal framework in place that bans foreign donations. There is a long-standing principle – as originally recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1998 – that permissible donors are those on the UK electoral register, and this includes UK citizens who are registered overseas electors. Companies wishing to make donations must be UK-registered and carrying on business in the UK. If a British citizen is able to vote in an election for a political party, they should also be able to donate to that political party, subject to the requirements for transparency on donations. Supporting a political party is part of the democratic process, and is an expression of freedom of association. Since the adoption of universal suffrage, taxation has never been the basis of enfranchisement in the UK. Those who do not pay income tax, such as those earning less than the tax-free personal allowance, rightly remain entitled to vote. Similarly, full-time students are legally exempt from paying council tax, but still have the right to vote in local elections. Notwithstanding, as I stated in my previous answer, the Government has announced it will consult on strengthening the current provisions which protect UK politics from foreign influence. The consultation may consider recommendations on tackling loopholes in relation to foreign spending in elections and donations from shell companies which are not properly operating in the UK. More broadly, since 2010, the Government has taken action to sanction and deter those involved in offshore evasion, including creating a new criminal offence for serious offshore evasion, and introducing penalties for those who deliberately help others to evade tax offshore. The Government has introduced over 100 new measures to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance.

Senior Civil Servants: Private Education

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the senior civil service that were privately educated.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office does not currently hold comprehensive and accurate information on the proportion of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) who were privately educated, nor of the educational background of civil servants.

Civil Servants: Education

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on the educational background of civil servants.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office does not currently hold comprehensive and accurate information on the proportion of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) who were privately educated, nor of the educational background of civil servants.

Senior Civil Servants: Education

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of senior civil servants that were educated at (a) Oxford and (b) Cambridge University.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office does not currently hold comprehensive and accurate information on the proportion of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) who were privately educated, nor of the educational background of civil servants.

GovTech Fund

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of applications for GovTech catalyst funding were successful in each funding round.

Oliver Dowden: Out of the 11 challenges launched to date, 416 suppliers have bid and 55 have been selected to offer their technological solutions. There were 25 suppliers appointed in both Round 1 and 2 and 5 so far in Round 3.

Immigrants: Suicide

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on immigrants who have died by suicide within the first three years of moving to the UK.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 68.77 KB)